Complexity in risks facing pension plans: nonmarket financial risk in the United States and Poland

This paper discusses agency, regulatory capture, counterparty and political risks as aspects of the nonmarket financial risks that pension plans and their participants bear, using as examples the United States and Poland. The intent of the paper is to expand beyond financial market risks the discussion of financial risks that pension plans and participants bear in funded pension systems. Thus, this paper fits into the broader discussion of the relative merits of funded and unfunded pensions. The paper also relates to analysis of the increasingly complex environment in which pension plans operate.