EFRP FACT SHEET
Introduction
EFRP members
World Pension Association (WPA)
Mission statement
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Introduction
The European Federation for Retirement Provision - EFRP - has developed from national associations who in turn represent company sponsored and industry-wide supplementary pension plans. The EFRP represents pension funds that are responsible for 2nd pillar or occupational pension provision, that is to say those supplementary pension arrangements linked to paid occupational activity, including both employed and self employed categories.
Having proved to be a centre of expertise in the European context for occupational/supplementary pensions related issues, the federation is consulted at a high level whenever EU policy makers take views in this field.
EFRP members
EFRP members are spread over 16 EU-Member States and
5 non-EU Member States (Croatia, Guernsey, Iceland,
Norway and Switzerland).
EFRP members provide for the financing of the private occupational pension of 83 million EU citizens. In some EU Member States, the EFRP members cover 80 % of the membership of occupational schemes in that country (D, E, F, IRL, NL, UK). In Sweden this coverage even amounts to 90-95%.
The EFRP represents pension funds that have responsibility for the investment of approximately
€3.5 trillion for future retirement income (2005 figure).
Generally speaking, EFRP members are non-profit institutions. EFRP members support the idea of beneficiary involvement in the pension fund governance. In some member states pension funds are governed on a paritarian basis (50 % labour unions or other type of employee representation and 50 % employers' representatives).
World Pension Association (WPA)
Finally EFRP is also one of the co-founders of the
World Pension Association (WPA), which was set up last year and is currently based in Madrid. The WPA has been established to promote the development of retirement provision and to intensify information on and the understanding of different pension systems in the world.
Mission statement
EFRP advocates :
- that national diversities in financial vehicles to fund occupational pension schemes be acknowledged
- that both 1st pillar and 2nd pillar pension provision can be harmoniously combined to form one single retirement income
- that a proper balance be struck between the protection of pension fund beneficiaries and the efficiency of financing the liabilities
- that pension funds being wholesale consumers have freedom
- to allocate their assets
- to appoint their custodians
- to appoint their asset managers
- throughout the EU.
The EFRP promotes best practice in investment strategies and qualitative prudential supervision based on the prudent person rule.
For a long time the EFRP has advocated greater mobility in respect of occupational schemes stressing that taxation provisions constitute one of the major obstacles to the achievement of the single market of labour, including the single market of occupational pensions.