Breakfast briefing series

19 April: Wake-up time: Kiwi complacency about the costs of the ageing population
Professor Natalie Jackson, Professor of Demography at the University of Waikato challenges New Zealand's complacency about the impact of increasing longevity and the baby-boomer bulge.

3 November: KiwiSaver turns 3 - are we celebrating?
Presenters: Craig Ansley (Savings Working Group), Alasdair Thompson (Chief Executive, EMA Northern) and Michael Littlewood (RPRC). A range of views were presented including from Craig Ansley of the Savings Working Group and Alasdair Thompson of the EMA. KiwiSaver is here to stay but there are worries about what it is supposed to have achieved, its cost and several important aspects of its design.

13 April: KiwiSaver and the economy: Are there design issues?
Presenter: Bernard Hickey. Bernard is a leading financial journalist and is currently the editor of Interest.co.nz, a news and information website aimed at New Zealand borrowers and savers. Bernard has raised questions on, among other issues, the Tax Working Group’s exercise, and whether raising GST is justifiable. He discusses the impact and importance of KiwiSaver in the economy.

9 November: Do we have any idea whether Kiwi households are saving or dissaving?
Presenter: Dr Grant Scobie (principal advisor to Treasury, previously Professor of Economics at the University of Waikato). Despite intense debate on the issues of household saving and retirement, it has proved very difficult to get a clear view of what NZ households are actually doing. Dr Scobie offered an overview of the measurement of household saving, analysed the latest data from the Reserve Bank, and presented preliminary findings from SoFIE, a survey of household assets and liabilities.

28 April: The economics of prefunding New Zealand Superannuation
Presenter: Professor Tim Hazledine (The University of Auckland Business School). Professor Hazledine’s guiding principle as an economist is that sustainability in the fullest sense is basically all that matters for economic policy. He applied this perspective to the Big Super Fund - perhaps with surprising results.

24 February: Observations and lessons from the 2008 meltdown. Who is responsible for the mess?
Presenter: Michael Chamberlain BSc, FIA, FNZSA, is an actuary, an adviser to large investors on strategy, and is also part-owner of Aventine, the managers of SuperLife (a master trust) and SuperLife KiwiSaver.

2 December: Behavioural finance: Choice overload in retirement savings - the paradox of plenty
Presenter: Hazel Bateman (Associate Professor of Economics, Director, Centre for Pensions and Superannuation, The University of New South Wales).

14 October: Digging into the numbers: The Top 100
Presenter: Michael Littlewood (Co-Director RPRC, The University of Auckland), discussed the results and implications of the RPRC top 100 company survey conducted this year.

Visit the research section of our website for document details

3 February: The influence of the New Zealand model on the UK Pension Commission's report of November 2005
Presenter: Alison O'Connell (Director Pensions Policy Institute, London). In association with ASFONZ, Women in Super, and The University of Auckland’s Public Policy Group this Breakfast was hosted at Old Government House, The University of Auckland.