Standard Life and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have announced a three-year research initiative, which will consider global perspectives on retirement income and the needs of a diverse workforce.

The project will be funded by Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, with a team of OECD researchers and policy experts to examine the challenges associated with achieving financial security in retirement.

By reviewing global thinking, the research will look to identify innovative retirement income approaches being used elsewhere to meet the needs of individuals and society more broadly.

The OECD will also consider the retirement income products and the guarantees provided in different countries to improve certainty of income and reduce the possibility of running out of money, and assess the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions.

Alongside this, a second strand of research will focus on the growing challenge of meeting the diverse needs of employees, after feedback from employers revealed that engagement remains a top concern for many.

This strand will also have a specific focus on how factors such as gender, culture, ethnicity and socio-economic background impact saving attitudes and the support needed.

This builds on previous Standard Life research, which challenged the idea that a one-size fits all approach to engagement is effective, revealing that just 57 per cent of women are confident making financial decisions, compared to 70 per cent of men.

OECD private pension unit principal economist, Pablo Antolin, commented: “The OECD is delighted to announce the joint research initiative with Standard Life encompassing retirement income and gender, diversity, equality and inclusion issues.

“Both work areas are important to consider not only in the United Kingdom but elsewhere across the globe.

"We argue that to address the main challenges that ageing societies present for retirement, we need to understand the different views and concerns of the different stakeholders in the world of pensions and retirement.

“This joint research initiative brings the views and concerns of a key player to the fore and will help us in our role of providing policy guidelines to policy makers worldwide.”

Adding to this, Standard Life chief executive, Andy Curran, said: “The OECD’s combination of international reach and pensions expertise is unrivalled, and we’re excited to embark on this project with them.

"Our aim through the joint research initiative is to foster innovation in the way we meet the diverse needs and wants of savers.

“By incorporating further research on gender, ethnicity, culture and socio-economic factors the OECD will help us shorten the time it takes to enhance our propositions, taking account of the latest international thinking."

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