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The 2003 Symposium brought together experts from New Zealand and Australia to present new information on New Zealanders' net worth.  Throughout the day, presenters and commentators discussed the implications of the new research and how it affects savings and retirement income issues.

Dr Michael Cullen, Minister of Finance, opened the Symposium, and Professor Gary Hawke from Victoria University of Wellington and Dr Alan Bollard, Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, chaired the event.

View a copy of Dr Cullen's presentation.

View a copy of Professor Hawke's notes.

Professor John Piggott - New Zealand and Australia

New Zealand and Australia have gone down divergent tracks in terms of retirement income policy.  John Piggott, Professor of Economics, University of New South Wales, presented an overview of the Australian model, the lessons it can teach us, and the financial preparedness of Australians for retirement.

View a copy of Professor Piggott's presentation.

Dr John Gibson - New Zealanders' net worth

Dr John Gibson from Waikato University presented findings from his analysis of the Household Savings Survey.  This included information on the levels of net worth of New Zealanders, the factors that explain the differences, and the effect of ethnicity and student loans on net worth.

View a copy of Dr Gibson's presentation.

View a copy of the paper.

Dr Grant Scobie - Adequacy

Dr Grant Scobie from The Treasury, presented information on the adequacy of private savings for retirement based on an initial assessment of the Household Savings Survey.

View a copy of Dr Scobie's presentation.

View a copy of the paper.

John Creedy - The age/net worth profiles of Australians

John Creedy from The Treasury presented information on the net worth of Australians.  He discussed whether net worth varies with age, how different cohorts have different levels of accumulation, and how Australian households accumulate wealth before retirement and how they de-accumulate wealth after retirement.

View a copy of John Creedy's presentation.

Tanya Randall - An introduction to the new information

Tanya Randall was project manager for the Survey of Household Wealth which was commissioned by the Retirement Commission and undertaken by Statistics New Zealand.  Ms Randall's presentation outlined the survey and its top line findings.

View a copy of Tanya Randall's presentation.

Attachment
John Creedy's presentation
Dr Cullen's presentation
Professor Hawke's notes
Gibson presentation
Dr Gibson's paper
Professor Piggott's presentation
Tanya Randall's presentation
Dr Scobie's paper
Dr Scobie's presentation