Retirement systems play a critical role in society and impact virtually every major stakeholder group, as well as the broader economy and financial system. Macro trends (globalization, technology, demographics, and regulatory changes) and events (financial and fiscal crises) are reshaping the retirement investment ecosystem and undermining the sustainability of systems across the world. Historically, public and private institutions had managed and pooled the risks of individuals and guaranteed certain outcomes to individual participants (known as “defined benefit” plans), but that system has slowly been supplanted by one where each individual is personally responsible for their retirement (known as "defined contribution" plans). 

The Forum is uniquely positioned to address this issue because any solution requires coordinating multiple stakeholders (national/state/local governments, regulators, private investors, institutional investors, asset managers, insurance companies) and solutions are drawn from experiences in many different regions and countries.

The project objectives are to:

1. Raise awareness among key stakeholders as to the implications of the shift

2. Identify best practices and draft recommendations aimed at ensuring: a) access by individuals to retirement solutions; b) the sustainability of retirement systems; and c) access by businesses and infrastructure to long-term capital.