The BlackRock Retirement Institute (BRI) will focus on a broad spectrum of critical retirement concerns and issues worldwide — from financial readiness, health care, and technology, through to public policy and beyond.
Chip Castille, BlackRock’s global chief retirement strategist, who oversees BRI, said: “Studies estimate that more than half of all children born over the last decade will live past age 100. We at BlackRock believe we have an urgent responsibility to continually examine the effectiveness of the current retirement system.”
Landscape shift
Tony Stenning, head of retirement, EMEA, said: “The UK pensions landscape has undergone some radical changes over the last few years. Retirement used to be a case of saving for a few decades, and then with the purchase of an annuity, taking a guaranteed income for the rest of your life.
“Now, pension savers are faced with all sorts of unknowns, and the growing popularity of [direct contribution] schemes means more of us must pay attention to our pension pot. There are many questions we now must ask ourselves.
“How long am I going to live? Will I outlive my pension? What happens to my retirement income if the stock markets crashes? How will my investments perform if I withdraw money at the wrong time? With freedom comes responsibility and individuals don’t have an easy job.
“The BRI will help to answer some of these questions that we now face so that we can make more informed choices about our futures,” Stenning says.
Topics covered
Topics covered by BRI’s global research agenda include, among others: financial security; the design and delivery of employer sponsored retirement programs; behavioural finance (including triggers and incentives for effective retirement planning); public policy on retirement saving and investment; and the impact of an aging population on the economy.
“Retirement and longevity are shaping up as the central financial and societal challenges of our era,” said Bruce Wolfe, executive director of BRI. “We believe these challenges can be met and overcome with innovation geared toward a transformation of how individuals plan for and live in retirement.
“To that end, BRI can make a significant difference, bringing together many of the best minds, from a range of disciplines, to generate knowledge and create solutions that can help support secure retirements for individuals worldwide — one decision at a time,” Wolfe said.
