2016 was a symbolic year for pension systems in Japan. In November 2016, the Japanese Diet enacted new legislation that shortens the eligibility period for public pensions from 25 years to 10 years. This was followed the next month by a revision to the automatic balancing system.

Over the past few decades there has been a significant shift from the traditional defined-benefit (DB) plan toward defined-contribution (DC) plans. In defined benefit (DB) pension plans sponsored by employers, employees must rely on the employer’s investment decisions to guarantee their retirement benefit in the future.

A 2015 survey of U.K. defined contribution (DC) pension plans reveals that there is a disconnect between what new initiatives they want to deliver and what they can actually provide. The Aon DC Survey 2015 revealed that out of 330 respondents from 297 U.K. DC pension plans, 57% of respondents feel that the top priority for DC schemes is better member outcomes, while 47% identified the need for specific