MARKET, GOVERNMENTS, BEHIND THE CURVE ON LONGEVITY, SAYS SWISS RE

Substantial increases in life expectancy over the past few decades have consistently been underestimated by the market, a report from Swiss Re claims. Daniel Ryan, head of life and health R&D at Swiss Re, said that "the failure to consider future drivers of mortality in historical predictions contributed to employer pension funds under-reserving for longevity risk and other bodies, including governments, not budgeting effectively for funding an ageing population". A new report from Swiss Re on managing longevity risk calls for a multi-disciplinary approach that is robust and predictive, with medical experts, actuaries, demographers and experts in other disciplines creating building blocks for a disease-centred model that could predict more accurately the future trends in longevity. Alison Martin, Swiss Re's head of life and health products, said that "an improved approach to assessing future longevity is one of the essential components in creating an overall solution to the financial effects of ageing societies. It is only through public and private bodies working together that the wider issue of a sustainable infrastructure for long-term retirement provision can be created". She added that reinsurers such as Swiss Re could help by investing in longevity R&D.