Mutual Funds

Home News Markets IPO Personal Finance

Insurance Art

News

Stock Quote

Type Company Name Environment

NRI Services

Tech

Jobs

Opinion
Credit Cards

Features
Tax Savers

Blogs
Savings Centre Calculators

ET NOW

ET Wealth
MF New s

Mutual Funds
Analysis

Fixed Deposits

Loan Centre

Com pare Search ETF

You are here: Home > Collections

Waiting for pension reforms? Invest in mutual funds for better retirement Get 50Lac after 15Years* Invest I C 3600pm planning L
Ads by Google

Plan

Aug 13, 2012, 08.00AM IST

Policy Bazaar.com/201 2_Inv estments

Tags: RETIREMENT PLANNING C apital markets

PFRDA

pension reforms

NSAP

mutual funds

ET Wealth

Investment Properties
Apartments half the price of the ones next door. Simple
FSLinv est.com

Ajay Bagga A country's retirement system is usually supported by three pillars. The first is typically a state-run, universal basic pension system. The second is a mandatory occupational one for employees, while the last comprises a private, voluntary plan, such as individual retirement schemes. India has around 90 million people above the age of 58 years, the retirement age for most Indians. Of these, nearly 7 million receive pension from various government entities. Hence, the first option covers these staffers and the very poor elderly through schemes like the National Social Assistance Programme ( NSAP).
Ads by Google

(Investment in mutual funds)

Get 50Lac after 15Years*

Invest I C 3600pm L Plan
Policy Bazaar.com/201 2_Inv estments

RELATED ARTICLES Insurance firms rush for a pie in the pension sky
Feb ruary 20, 2007

Best Investment Plan

Invest 25,000/Year & Get Rs.33 Lacs Check & Compare all Other Plans!
Ulipindia.co.in/Inv estment-Plan

...But Centre pushes for pension sector reforms bill

May 17, 2005

PFRDA to regulate pvt pensions

May 12, 2009

The EPFO manages around Rs 3,70,000 crore for 45 million employees with the help of four fund management firms. This is India's second pillar, which covers only 12% of the employees who work in the organised sector, while the unorganised sector, which employs a massive 88% of the workers, has no formal retirement plans for staffers. The last pillar is very small, limited to the Public Provident Fund (PPF), superannuation schemes and private pension plans run by two mutual funds, and some insurance companies. The PPF has a corpus of Rs 35,000 crore held by around 3 million Indians, while the pension plans manage around Rs 7,000 crore for 1.6 million investors. Hence, the financial situation for a majority of Indians in retirement is grim, with no state-sponsored social security system or standardised pension plan. Till a couple of decades ago, the low post-retirement life expectancy and financial support from children and relatives meant that retirement planning was not given too much importance. Taking note of this, the government set up the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority ( PFRDA) in 2003, and the New Pension System (NPS) was introduced in January 2004, starting with central government's new employees and was later extended to state government staff and private sector workers as well. However, the broad pension reforms have been stuck due to various reasons. The pension plans by insurance companies are also hamstrung by issues of guaranteed returns. Given that the people above 58 years of age will reach the 200 million mark by 2030, it is critical that instead of waiting for legislative reforms or tax breaks, people should use the available tools for their retirement planning. One such tool is mutual funds, which offer a wide range of products managed by professionals, transparent and published track records, diversified portfolios, liquidity and full disclosure under the watch of a strong regulator. Low investment size, widespread distribution and availability of low-cost products are other benefits that they offer. The basic flaw in the investment allocation of Indians is that they lock their long-term funds in fixed return

indiatimes.com/2012-08-13//33182445_1_new-pension-system-pension-reforms-pension-plans

1/3

avenues, which give negative post-tax, inflation-adjusted returns. The low allocation to equity markets is reflected in the low 10 million demat accounts.

What has helped steady the overall balance for average Indians is their holding in real assets, largely real estate and gold, both of which have done well in the past few years. Despite a high 30% savings rate, the low allocation to equity-related assets indicates that India is largely a nation of savers. There is a need to make it a nation of investors. However, if one analyses the investment pattern of the average Indian with that of the high net worth individuals, those with more than Rs 1 crore in financial assets, the difference is stark. This segment invests over 40% of their funds in equities and another 9 % in alternate assets, apart from high investments in real assets.
Ads by Google

Get 50Lac after 15Years*

Invest I C 3600pm L Plan
Policy Bazaar.com/201 2_Inv estments

Little wonder then that the rich keep getting richer since they invest in the high return assets, which undoubtedly have a higher risk but give positive post-tax, post inflation returns. Add to this the magic of compounding and you can understand why the average Indian who holds fixed deposits is ravaged by rising prices, while the luxury segment seems to be largely unaffected and is actually showing growth that is greater than the nominal GDP growth. Take the example of the US, where pension reforms were initiated in the 1980s. By the end of 2011, the US retirement market stood at a massive $17.9 trillion for 82 million citizens. Mutual funds accounted for $4.7 trillion or 26% of this amount, which in turn represented 40% of the entire mutual fund industry in the US. Retirement saving accounts comprised 48% of the long-term mutual funds across the industry. Interestingly, funds held in retirement accounts were 51% of the entire household's long-term mutual fund holdings. The investment pattern was also revealing. As much as 54% or $2.53 trillion was invested in pure equity mutual funds, both in domestic and global stocks. Another 21% or $1 trillion was invested in hybrid funds, which invest in varying combinations of equities and bonds. The remaining 25% was in bond and liquid funds.
Ads by Google

Best Investment Plan

Invest 25,000/Year & Get Rs.33 Lacs Check & Compare all Other Plans!
Ulipindia.co.in/Inv estment-Plan

1 | 2 | Next FEATURED ARTICLES

indiatimes.com/2012-08-13//33182445_1_new-pension-system-pension-reforms-pension-plans

2/3

Facebook insiders can sell stock as 'lock-up' ends

Low-cost tablets from HCL, Beetel, and others no match yet for iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab

SBI offers switch to new home loan rates; 6 lakh to benefit

More: HSBC hands US more staff names in tax evasion probe How to choose a term insurance plan PC makers hike prices as falling rupee makes import of parts costlier; sales likely to take a hit Readers' opinions (8)
Sort by: Newest | Oldest manish mittal (new delhi) 15 Aug, 2012 01:04 PM MF can fulfill every layman needs if he/she invest smartly with an essence of knowledge in it too...... ABHISHEK (kolkata) 15 Aug, 2012 12:28 PM IF we invest in equity mutual funds for our retirement we would surely get return which would beat inflation and create wealth for us. Even worst of Mutual funds have given more than 12% tax free return in last 10 years. Beat fund have given more than 25% return. Investing in PPF , NSC or FD is just an saving not wealth creation, because inflation itself is more than 8% in India. Invest in ICICI DISCOVERY, HDFC MID CAP OPPRTUNITIES, RELIANCE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY , TATA RETIREMENT SAVINGS ETC with 10 years horizon. Ashish (Pune) 14 Aug, 2012 09:50 PM The Author fails to mention that Stocks do very poorly in a Deflationary environment and especially the fact that the Indian Stock market is now FLAT for Three Years. We all know how rigged Indian Markets are.Please be careful before investing in Stocks!!! The US has seen Net outflows from Equity MFs for the last decade. Another fact which the Author very conveniently ignores!!! Nobody can take care of your money better than you do!!! Education,Education and more Education is the Key!!! Another fact ,that the author very convenientl Ashisth (Pune) 14 Aug, 2012 09:43 PM The Major reasons nobody trusts MF Managers is because they always put their own interests above those of investors. ET only published a very good article on this issue,a few days back. Unless their Incentives are directly tied to Returns;we will not get Good performance from MF Managers. Comparing with US;the Authors are using extremely Old Data. US MF Assets are now overwhelmingly in Bond Funds as nobody trusts the rigged Stockmarket. apsuresh babu (Bangalore) 14 Aug, 2012 05:52 AM LIC, India's largest insurer had withdrawn all their pension plans(except Jeevan Akshay) in December 2011, and could not re-introduce revised pension plans as yet. There have been no regular pension plans with LIC for the last 8 months. Who is responsible for this state of affairs, either IRDA or LIC? READ ALL COMMENTS

Nokia launches two new handsets under 'Asha' range Sun surrounded by dark matter, claim scientists TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture to use Nasscom's NAC-Tech test for entry-level hiring

2 0 1 2 Ben n et t , Colem a n & Co. Lt d. A ll r ig h t s r eser v ed w w w .econ om ict im es.com

In dex by Da t e | In dex by Key w or d

A dv er t ise w it h u s | T er m s of Use | Pr iv a cy Policy | Feedba ck

indiatimes.com/2012-08-13//33182445_1_new-pension-system-pension-reforms-pension-plans

3/3