Australia’s MySuper default superannuation funds are compared against New Zealand’s range of KiwSaver funds. Some key points of contrast include: the relative maturity and larger balances of the Australian system; the majorityof MySuper providers are not for profit, whereas KiwiSaver is dominated by for profit providers; MySuper funds use a much broader range of assets...

An effective portfolio disclosure regime must balance both its costs and benefits across the entire financial services industry. This study examines a number of disclosure regimes with respect to accuracy and susceptibility to copycat behaviour in an environment absent of mandatory disclosure. We find that periodic portfolio disclosure tends to underestimate true excess performance as...

Luxury bequests impart systematic e ects of age to an investor's optimal allocation: the expected percentage allocation to equities rises throughout retirement. When bequests are luxuries the marginal utility of bequests declines more slowly than the marginal utility of consumption. This is essentially lower risk aversion. As a retiree approaches death, her expected remaining lifetime...

Aydogan Ulker analyses the role of the elderly couples' past marital history in determining their current wealth holdings and portfolio allocation using data from the first wave of the Health and Retirement Study. The results suggest that, while the net cost of divorce in terms of household wealth accumulation is higher for men than it...