|
The 7th Annual IIEF Pension Policy Conclave, 2005
DAY ONE:
Tuesday, 27 September 2005
Opening remarks and backdrop to India 's pension reform
Gautam Bhardwaj
Director, Invest India Economic Foundation
The ADB's role in supporting pension reforms in Asia
Renato Limjoco
Lead Specialist,
Governance Finance and Trade Division Asian Development Bank
The experience of South Asia with providing equitable, sustainableand broad-based pension systems and lessons for India
Prof. Mukul Asher
Professor,
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
The New Pension System
In this session, Mr. Swarup will share the PFRDA's vision, scope and mandate, as well as the regulator's short and long-term developmental priorities in extending broad-based coverage of the NPS. The Chairman will also outline some of the key challenges for the NPS as well as the implementation road-map for this scheme. The following presentation by Mr. Sinha will highlight some of the key areas in which the NPS will ride on existing financial sector infrastructure and institutional capacity - especially in delivering low transactions costs, national-wide access, well-regulated intermediation services and competitively priced annuities. This presentation will also identify potential areas in which new developments in Indian finance may be desirable for efficient and speedy implementation of the NPS.
Session chairman
Dr. Rakesh Mohan
Deputy Governor
Reserve Bank of India
Opening remarks by the session chairman
NPS scope and PFRDA's immediate and long-term priorities
D. Swarup
Chairman
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
Implications of India 's financial markets on the NPS
U. K. Sinha
Joint Secretary (CM & PR)
Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
Commentators
C. B. Bhave
Chairman and Managing Director,
National Securities Depository Limited
Dr. Ajay N. Shah
Consultant
Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance , Government of India
Shikha Sharma
Managing Director,
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited
Sanjay Sachdev
Managing Director & CEO,
Principal PNB AMC Private Limited
Questions
Summary and closing remarks by the Chairman
Fiscal imperatives for India 's pension reform
Promises by the State about payment of pension in the future are much like debt. For the purpose of fiscal planning and analysis of pension reforms, it is important to compute the implicit pension debt (IPD) of the country. India's IPD comes about through the current pension promises to existing workers and pensioners of the central and state governments, as well the funding gap in the EPS and other DB pension schemes of government owned enterprises which self-provide annuities. Recent attempts at computing a part of the IPD of the Indian State by IIEF using IRES data suggested an IPD of 55.88% of GDP. In this session, Mr. Bhardwaj will present an updated estimate of India 's implicit pension debt based on IIEF's analysis of some new data.
Chairman
C. S. Rao
Chairman,
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
Opening remarks by the Chairman
Towards estimating India 's Implicit Pension Debt (IPD)
Gautam Bhardwaj
Director,
Invest India Economic Foundation
Discussants
Prof. B. B. Bhattacharya
Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Michael Wattleworth
Senior Resident Representative
International Monetary Fund
V. S. Senthil
Joint Secretary (State Finances)
Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
Dr. Robert Palacios
Senior Pensions Economist, The World Bank
Questions
Summary and closing remarks by the Session Chairman
State Government pension policy outlook: Interaction with Finance Secretaries
This session on pension reforms and NPS implementation will include (a) an update on state pension reforms by senior officials of state governments and (b) and open Q&A session with the PFRDA, Ministry of Finance, DPPW and CPAO on NPS adoption.
Update on NPS adoption and pensions policy outlook by
State Finance Secretaries
Chairman
D. Swarup
Chairman
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
Panelists
I. M. G. Khan
Additional Secretary
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Government of India
U. K. Sinha
Joint Secretary (CM and PR), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
V. S. Senthil
Joint Secretary (State Finances)
Department of Expenditure , Ministry of Finance, Government of India
Vandana Sharma
Chief Controller (Pensions)
CPAO, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
Gautam Bhardwaj
Director
Invest India Economic Foundation
Close of sessions for Day One
DAY TWO:
Wednesday, 28 September 2005
Extending voluntary pensions to the informal sector: Key ADB TA recommendations (2005)
The following two sessions will focus on the key recommendations from the Asian Development Bank's Technical Assistance to the Government of India under a Project commissioned to UNSW and IIEF. Under this 12-month TA, a national retirement earnings and savings survey was administered on a random sample of 40,862 earners across 28 Indian States. The final recommendations from this project were recently submitted by ADB to the DEA. These were based on an intense analysis of the survey findings, comprehensive feedback from industry and policymakers, and peer reviews by leading global and domestic experts. In the first of these two sessions, Dr. Christopher Butel, project director for this TA and the key architect of the survey, will present an overview of the key recommendations for DEA and PFRDA in extending voluntary coverage of contributory pensions in the Indian context. Dr. Butel will also provide some evidence of retirement outcomes for India in a no-change scenario. In the second session, Dr. Butel will deal with a narrower subset of the recommendations - especially those dealing with products, access, gender and financial literacy. Both sessions are aimed specifically at obtaining direct feedback on these recommendations from a variety of key stakeholders.
Session c hairman
D. Swarup
Chairman
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
Opening remarks by the session chairman
NPS and the unorganised sector
Dr. Christopher Butel
Project Director,
ADB Unorganised Sector Pension Reforms TA
Commentators
S. K. Mitra
Director (Financial Services)
Aditya Birla Group of Companies
Gary Bennett
Managing Director and CEO
Max New York Life Insurance Company
Sanjay Prakash
Chief Executive Officer
HSBC Asset Management ( India ) Private Limited
Questions
Summary and closing remarks by the Chairman
Key ADB TA recommendations (2005): Continued
Chairman
U. K. Sinha
Joint Secretary (CM & PR), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
Opening remarks
Pension markets and products in India
Dr. Christopher Butel
Project Director, ADB Unorganised Sector Pension Reforms TA
Commentators
Padmini Gopinath
Secretary - Postal Services Board and DDG (Financial Services), Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India
Arbind Modi
Joint Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
Jon Robinson
Managing Director, Vanguard Investments Singapore
Questions
Summary and closing remarks by the Chairman
Strengthening existing retirement provisions: Legislated Pension and PF Benefits
While several new initiatives are under active consideration for retirement benefits of civil servants and informal sector workers, very little progress has been made on the legislated, mandatory pension and provident fund provisions which cover a substantial population of workers in the formal sector. In this session, Prof. Mukul Asher will discuss some policy choices for effecting parametric and systemic improvements in the structure, administration and governance of these plans. In this context, Prof. Asher will also present a summary of the experiences of some other countries in reforming publicly managed pension systems and draw some lessons for India .
Session c hairman
Dr. S. Narayan
Former Advisor to the PMO
Opening remarks by the session chairman
Policy proposals and actions for providing sustainable retirement outcomes under legislated pension and PF provisions
Prof. Mukul Asher
Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
Commentators
A. Viswanathan
Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner, EPFO, Ministry of Labour, Government of India
S. V. Prasad
Chief Executive Officer, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company
S. P. Subhedar
Senior Advisor, Prudential Corporation Asia
Questions
Summary and closing remarks by the Chairman
Strengthening existing retirement provisions: Private pensions and employer-led plans
The last technical session will examine the role of public policy and the policy outlook in encouraging employer interest and participation in maximising the retirement outcomes of their employees. The session will also examine the EET framework of taxation of financial savings including pensions announced by the Union Finance Minister during the 2005-06 Union Budget. In this session, Dr. Rajiv Kumar will discuss tax policy implications for voluntary personal pensions and occupational PF and superannuation plans offered by private firms, issues of excluded and exempted provident fund trusts, as well as governance and regulatory gaps in these arrangements.
Session c hairman
Dr. John Piggott
Dean
Centre for Pensions and Superannuation, UNSW, Australia
Opening remarks by the session chairman
Designing public policies to encourage voluntary coverage of private and occupational pension plans
Dr. Rajiv Kumar
Chief Economist
Confederation of Indian Industry
Commentators
Rajendra P. Chitale
Managing Partner, M.P. Chitale & Co.
Deepak Satwalekar
Managing Director
HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited
Dr. R. Kannan
Chairman
EET Committee, Appointed Actuary, SBI Life Insurance Company Limited
Questions
Summary and closing remarks by the Chairman
Strengthening existing retirement provisions: Private pensions and employer-led plans
The last technical session will examine the role of public policy and the policy outlook in encouraging employer interest and participation in maximising the retirement outcomes of their employees. The session will also examine the EET framework of taxation of financial savings including pensions announced by the Union Finance Minister during the 2005-06 Union Budget. In this session, Dr. Rajiv Kumar will discuss tax policy implications for voluntary personal pensions and occupational PF and superannuation plans offered by private firms, issues of excluded and exempted provident fund trusts, as well as governance and regulatory gaps in these arrangements.
Session c hairman
Dr. John Piggott
Dean
Centre for Pensions and Superannuation, UNSW, Australia
Opening remarks by the session chairman
Designing public policies to encourage voluntary coverage of private and occupational pension plans
Dr. Rajiv Kumar
Chief Economist
Confederation of Indian Industry
Commentators
Rajendra P. Chitale
Managing Partner
M.P. Chitale & Co.
Deepak Satwalekar
Managing Director
HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited
Dr. R. Kannan
Chairman
EET Committee, Appointed Actuary, SBI Life Insurance Company Limited
Questions
Summary and closing remarks by the Chairman
Close of conference
| 
