The features that I think would be desirable in a pension plan are: that it pay a predictable lifetime pension; that it provide sufficient contribution or accumulation room to provide an adequate pension; that it can pay a disability pension when a person becomes disabled while they are still in the workforce; that it will allow a pension to be earned during workforce absences for disability, child care, unemployment periods, et cetera; that it will allow pooling of longevity and investment risk to reduce the cost of pensions for members; that it will allow asset pooling to reduce the cost of administration; and that it will allow new contribution room ...[+++] to be provided when members have investment losses when there is a market downturn.

Removing a portion of the associated reinvestment risk will, in the long run, aid in the development of a more competitive and more complete annuity market.

For example, this might involve the possibility of creating new schemes through which the funds attributed to retirees could remain invested for a number of years, allowing a gradual transition to the insured annuity market.

Moreover, given that the size of the pension in DC schemes can depend on the year in which the pensioner retires, market regulation needs to address the payout phase such as rules on purchasing an annuity (e.g. whether it is mandatory or voluntary, and the timing).

Moreover, given that the size of the pension in DC schemes can depend on the year in which the pensioner retires, market regulation needs to address the payout phase such as rules on purchasing an annuity (e.g. whether it is mandatory or voluntary, and the timing).

From a consumer perspective, this is not a broad and transparent market.