The Geneva Association is pleased to announce a special issue of The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance—Issues and Practice (October 2027 issue) entitled Longevity Risks, Insurance and the Pensions Gap.
Rising longevity and declining fertility are widening the pensions gap: a mismatch between the income needed to maintain a desired standard of living in retirement and the actual retirement income provided by state and occupational pensions. The decline of definedbenefit pensions and pressures on public finances have shifted complex long-term risks - including longevity risk, investment and inflation risk, and healthcare and long-term care (LTC) costs - onto households that are often ill-prepared to manage them. This special issue explores the economics of the pensions gap as well as market and policy responses to it, with a particular focus on insurance-based solutions. Topics of interest include, but are not limited, to:
- Market innovation:
- Design, pricing, and regulation of annuities and modern tontines.
- Economics of pension buy-outs, buy-ins, and risk transfers.
- Innovations in housing wealth as a retirement asset (e.g. reverse mortgages).
- Hedging and securitisation of longevity risk in capital markets.
- The role of InsurTech and AgeTech.
- Economics of preventative health and their impact on pension liabilities.
- Behavioural economics and household decisions:
- Demand for longevity-related insurance (e.g. annuities, life insurance, LTC insurance).
- Financial literacy’s role in financial security.
- Behavioural biases in decumulation and portfolio choice.
- The design of nudges and defaults in defined contribution plans to improve retirement outcomes.
- Pensions and labour markets:
- Optimal pension design and reforms.
- Risk-sharing mechanisms, including public-private partnerships.
- Solvency and macro-prudential implications of longevity risk for governments and insurers.
- Labour markets and the employment of an ageing workforce.
The guest editors for this special issue are Dr. Hélène Schernberg (The Geneva Association) and Dr. Cheng Wan (ETH Zürich).
Papers may be submitted electronically at any time, but no later than 25 September 2026, via The Geneva Papers submission site (https://www.editorialmanager.com/gpri/default.aspx). All suitable manuscripts will be peer-reviewed. For further information on The Geneva Papers, visit http://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41288.
