In this regard, there is a significant role for key stakeholders, including industry players, to educate the public to be more responsible for their retirement needs, enhance understanding of the risks faced by retirees and design products and services that provide long term financial security for the retirees. Another major challenge facing pension systems is the implication of financial market environment on pension investment strategies . While the demand for savings and retirement products exert growing influence on financial markets, subsequent falls in asset prices have led to wide-spread funding pressures in the past for most pension systems. This was exacerbated by the limited supply of financial instruments to meet the long-term liabilities of pension funds leading to asset liability mismatch and enhanced exposure of the fund to short-term price volatility. Another observation worth highlighting under the current pension setup in most jurisdictions is the absence of a single regulatory body to oversee the functions of an effective and efficient pension delivery system, both public and private. The absence of a single regulatory body has its list of drawbacks such as impeding the development of market infrastructure, the ability to conduct effective oversight of the providers' performance and strategies and monitor the investments made by pension funds. A pension industry that is not cohesively governed may result in duplications and unnecessary administrative cost. Hence, to strike a balance between achieving goals of market efficiency and reducing contingent fiscal liabilities, while promoting appropriate social benefits, may warrant a singular and unified approach under a single regulatory body.

Again, the role of the Government must be re-emphasized, primarily in packaging suitable tax advantages which can be offered in order to incentivise even the population outside the formal sector of employment to promote higher contributions. Some pension markets remain underdeveloped or at least underutilised in part due to tax disincentives. As such, the design and implementation of an appropriate tax framework incorporating preferential tax treatment could facilitate the promotion of long-term savings. The problems experienced in recent years by public funded pension systems highlighted the importance of complementary or supplementary forms of private savings initiatives. The emergence of institutional investors in particular, primarily as risk transfer conduits and as collectors of savings has shifted focus from publicly funded pensions systems to private savings schemes. This is the fourth and last initiative I will attempt to raise. In order to reduce the cost of providing for the social security of the ageing population, developed countries have encouraged the development of private pension schemes through tax incentives. In some developed countries, employees are given higher personal tax relief for contributions to approved pension schemes. While some countries have made private pensions mandatory, others continue to grapple with ways to promote participation in private pension systems in order for households to meet adequate retirement income needs. As such, measures need to be taken to incentivise private pension schemes.