Pension Economics and Finance

This course provides an introduction to the public pension systems, a detailed analysis of pension economics and finance, and discusses the future challenges faced by the pension systems in a political economic contest. The course is worth 3 credits, and runs from November 5th to December 17th. It is structured around regular lectures by professors Francesco Franzoni (FF) and Vincenzo Galasso (VG), and guest lectures by prominent experts in the field.
Topics:
Economics of Pensions

• Corporate pensions
• Pensions, Aggregate Savings, and Economic Growth
• Pensions and Labor Market. Lump of Labor Fallacy
• Pension, Gender and Family
• Behavioral Pension Economics

Pension Design

• Pension Funding: PAYG vs. Fully Funded
• Politics of pension reforms under aging

Pension Finance

• Portfolio Formation and Risk Diversification: review.
• The investment process; Governance of the firm; Stages in making the asset allocation decision (data analysis, relevant drivers, targets, etc.); Practical implementation of the asset allocation decision (security selection, choice of
• counterparties, order execution); Performance Evaluation. Guest speaker
• CAPM, Beta, and Alpha.
• Active Portfolio Management.
• Case study in Duration Steering; Asset and Liability Management; Impact of the evolution of the macroeconomic scenario on your allocation (Sovereign debt crisis, Exchange rate fluctuations, etc.) Guest speaker
• Portfolio Performance Evaluation: Concluding remarks.

Final Symposium the Future of Pension Systems in Aging Societies
Speakers and panelists: Eric Breval (Swiss Pension Fund), Marco Netzer (Swiss Pension Fund), Elsa Fornero (former Italian Labor Minister)