GLOBAL - The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is to commission two reports covering pension funds' costs and returns.

It has tendered for studies into schemes' investment management costs as well as a comparison on how investment returns differ across the world.

The first report is to assess private pension funds' investment management and total costs while the second will compare initial risk-adjusted measures of investment returns.

The studies are planned as an integral part of a general study coordinated by the OECD and the World Bank.

The first report would involve a "comparative analysis of investment performance of privately managed funds across several OECD, Latin American and Central and Eastern European countries", according to the OECD.

It said: "The purpose of this study will be to review the literature of pension fund costs and to examine the data sources available to obtain data on total costs in general and investment management costs in particular.

The returns report would "present an evaluation of investment performance on a risk adjusted basis".
 
The deadline for replying to the OECD is April 9. The total budget for the two reports is a combined $38,000.