Press Release: CWC report calls for cost transparency at pension funds across the world
The CWC report Pension Fund Cost Transparency finds that unions, trustees, legislators and regulators are recognizing the importance of mandating standardized disclosures that inform responsible decision making by trustees. The report examines case studies in the UK, Netherlands, the USA and Australia — four jurisdictions that account for 77 percent of global pension fund investments.
The CWC report describes that more than 90 percent of the total cost of running a pension is related to investment management and transaction costs at two large Dutch pension funds. While these costs are disclosed by funds and collected by the regulator in the Netherlands, they are not always transparent or understood in jurisdictions that do not have cost transparency templates. In Australia, superannuation funds are required by the regulator to disclose costs to fund members and funds have adopted a voluntary cost mapping table. In the UK, a cost template will be published by regulators in the autumn of 2018. In the USA, some states have adopted fee collection requirements for public pension plan investments in private market assets.
“It is troubling to think that two workers in a similar industry with similar wages might find themselves in vastly different situations at retirement because of opacity around fees and the impact of fees on the net returns of their pension funds,” said Sharan Burrows, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.