Need of the hour
Indian demographics are in for a major change. Longevity is increasing, families are becoming smaller, labour is turning geographically more mobile and joint-families are disintegrating. All these trends tell us clearly that we need an institutional framework.

Editorial -- Usher in pension funds
Pension funds are big business in developed economies. In USA, pension funds account for as much as 36% of total financial assets. Being long-term providers of funds, pension funds have been able to lend considerable stability to capital markets there.

Existing system -- limited reach
The existing system has a few funded plans. Sadly, these plans do not cover the entire working population. For instance, the self-employed do not have any pension system that can support them during their old age.

FAQs on pension funds
Sooner or later, pension funds are going to be around. Thanks to their immense potential to tap the savings of an aging population, proposal to usher in pension funds by the S A Dave - headed Oasis expert committee has generated a lot of interest.

AMFI proposes IRS
Let us face it. Retirement plans need to be devised to promote long-term savings, particularly by those who are outside the existing system of pension plans. Mind you, this uncovered section of the population is quite large.

IRS -- Highlights of the scheme
Who can invest: Any resident individual in the age group of completed 18 years upto 55 years can join the plan singly. Minors through their guardians and other entities such as Hindu undivided families, corporates and partnership firms are also eligible to join the plan.

Making business sense out of social security
It is a grim reality. India’s aging population needs a safety net. The problem is larger than you can ever imagine. Consider this piece of statistics: while India’s total population is expected to rise by 49% by 2016.

A pretty revolutionary step
In a bid to provide social security cover for the aged and allow pension funds, the ministry of social justice and empowerment commissioned Dr S A Dave to delve into the issue. Dave’s mandate: devise a pension system that would cover a large section of the workforce from the organised and the unorganised sectors.

There is enough flexibility to the pension fund manager
Dr Surendra Ambalal Dave is unfazed. His Project Oasis report, which proposes entry of pension funds and reforms in EPF and EPS, has received more brickbats than bouquets. Detractors are branding the Oasis report as -- an exercise in micro management.

Project Oasis is just a start
Ashutosh Bishnoi is optimistic. He hopes the recommendations of Dave Committee’s Oasis report will be accepted soon. As the president and chief executive of J M Capital Management, Bishnoi talks to A H Ghani of FE-Thinktank about pension funds and the Oasis report.

Fundchat
Excerpts from an interview with Niamatullah, managing director of SBI Mutual Fund:

Give freedom, but police them
Shekhar Sathe, chief executive officer of Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund, has his questions ready. He is not agreeing with many of the recommendations made in the Oasis report.