Centro de Documentacion de Fundación MAPFRE - How suitable are equity release mortgages as investments for pension funds?

MAP20240013349

How suitable are equity release mortgages as investments for pension funds? / Dean Buckner, Kevin Dowd and Hardy Hulley

Sumario: This article examines the claim that equity release mortgages, the U.K. equivalent of reverse mortgages in the U.S., are suitable investments for pension funds. We present valuation, stress test and scenario analysis results that suggest that equity release mortgages are unsuitable for pension funds because: (i) they bear returns that are typically below the risk-free rate; (ii) they are not hedges for annuity books, let alone good hedges; and (iii) they are heavily exposed to house price risk, which annuity books are not. Our results suggest that equity release mortgages meet none of these criteria to be suitable for pension funds and are almost entirely dominated by risk-free government bonds. We offer an explanation for why investors appear to be unaware of the low returns on equity release mortgages

En: Geneva papers on risk and insurance : issues and practice. - Geneva : The Geneva Association, 1976- = ISSN 1018-5895. - 15/04/2024 Volume 49 No. 2 - april 2024. Special Issue , p. 259-269

1. Fondos de pensiones . 2. Hipotecas . 3. Hipoteca inversa . 4. Renta vitalicia . 5. Riesgo . 6. Viviendas . 7. Inversiones . 8. Reino Unido . I. Título.