BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A two-day Caribbean Association of Pension Supervisors Conference and Annual General Meeting got underway here on Monday, with regional pension regulators being urged to collaborate on a common regulatory framework better to serve the needs of citizens in the region.
The event is being held under the theme “The Many Faces of Risk,” and Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn said regional pension regulators must create the framework to ensure that pension funds can be used to invest collectively across the region and to build resilience, instead of allocating such funds to invest outside of the area.
He also suggested that regulators needed to be more innovative and focused in their approach to developing a framework that could adequately manage pension funds beneficial to citizens.
Straughn discussed the connection between non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the silver economy (i.e., an aging population), and the long-term threat to pension schemes resulting from inadequate contributions.
He said while people were living longer, the NCDs threat was contributing to the cost of living in terms of persons “living and enjoying themselves during their working years.”
However, he noted that there were consequences when individuals reached old age, and controlling the NCD epidemic was crucial for having adequate pensions and good health outcomes, enabling citizens to live comfortably.
“Whilst it is clear that you have your job to do, to ensure that the fiduciary responsibilities of the fund managers, of the trustees, and all of that is in place, I can assure you and challenge you here this morning, that unless you as regulators are very clear in your mind as to who it is you are working for, which is the average Caribbean citizen, that your job is to try to create an environment that is as innovative as possible, that is focused on, how do you create more value for the management of those pension funds, such that they can deliver better for the average Caribbean citizen.”
Straughn acknowledged that there are various systems across the region, adding, “The reality is, why are we duplicating these regulatory efforts country by country, rather than leveraging our collective experience to ensure that the entities that are operating cross border in all of our jurisdictions can be better supervised?
But more importantly, that we create a framework…that genuine regional investment can take place.”
“And that is something that we need to work together as government, as regulators to impress upon all of our citizens that once we are of working/ productive age and hopefully planning our family arrangements, that we also think long term as to when we retire, what do we want our lifestyle to look like? and how do we plan for that?” Straughn said.
He told the opening ceremony that governments played a pivotal role in “helping to shape what “regulators can do…the innovation that allows you to be able to have pension plans work more collaboratively together to be able to earn more investment income that is tested [and] predictable, to be able to help encourage more people to plan for their retirement”.
Straughn also encouraged regulators to educate their citizens about the dangers of blessing circles while informing them about the benefits of making long-term investment plans for the future.
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