Video: Longevity Risk Could Cost Plans $40 Billion

Longer lives represent a huge risk to pension plans – even a one per cent change in mortality improvement can cause a four per cent drop in plan value says George Graziani, vice-president, Swiss Re. Since the total Canadian pension market stands at $1 trillion, Graziani estimates that $40 billion is at risk as people continue live longer lives. He spoke recently at the 2011 Risk Management Conference in Muskoka, Ontario, and we caught up with him during this interview for BCTV. In it, he talks about how the life reinsurance market is making headway in the pension space and how some insurance products allow plan sponsors to fully transfer longevity risk onto reinsurance companies. Click on the image to see the entire interview.