Eduardo Walker

Annuity Markets in Chile: Competition, Regulation - and Myopia?

The author studies annuity rates in Chile and relates them with industry competition. He finds (1) that annuity insurance companies paying higher broker commissions paid lower annuity rates; and (2) a structural break of the long-run elasticity of annuity rates to the risk-free rate in 2001. Moreover, this structural break coincided with the submission of a new draft pension law proposing greater transparency in annuity markets and a generalized drop in broker commissions. The high commissions charged in the 1990s were partly returned to annuitants as informal (and illegal) cash rebates. Myopic pensioners preferred cash rebates over present values. Thus, the legal threat caused the drop in broker commissions, reduced the illegal practice of cash rebates, increased competition by way of annuity rates, and raised the long-run elasticity to one.

CAMBIOS ESTRUCTURALES E INTEGRACION. DISCUSION Y ANALISIS DEL MERCADO ACCIONARIO CHILENO

In this paper we look for evidence of structural changes in the Chilean stock market between the mid eighties and the nineties. We find two important structural changes in the Chilean stock market. The first, at the end of 1990, indicates a significant re

Optimal portfolios in defined contribution pension systems.

We study optimal portfolios for defined contribution (possibly mandatory) pension systems, which maximize expected pensions subject to a risk level. By explicitly considering the present value of future individual contributions and changing the risk-return numeraire to future pension units we obtain interesting insights, consistent with the literature, in a simpler context. Results naturally imply that the local indexed (inflation-adjusted) currency is the benchmark and that the investment horizon is long. Optimal portfolios have a hedging component with an even longer duration than a deferred (real) pension, which begins its lifetime payments upon retirement. Results are illustrated with the parameters obtained for the United States by Campbell and Viceira (2001). It also discusses the implications for emerging market reformed pension systems.

Cost of Capital in Emerging Markets: Bridging Gaps between Theory and Practice

An important parameter for asset and project valuation is the opportunity cost of the capital invested, which depends on the systematic risks assumed. Having many angles, the existing literature has not fully resolved the issue for emerging markets. The evidence reviewed in this article suggests that we should at least consider exposure to market risk and country credit risk factors. After reviewing the theoretical and applied literature on cost of capital determination and international asset pricing models, the paper identifies and applies methodologies to determine discount rates applicable to emerging markets for different countries and currencies and develops methodologies for empirically measuring exposure to the country credit risk factor.