As the role of private pension systems grows in importance, there is a need to monitor their development and review their performance in an international context, especially following the crisis in the financial markets in 2008. This is the first edition of OECD Private Pensions Outlook, a new OECD publication that guides readers through the changing landscape of retirement income provision. This edition presents a special feature on the implications of the financial crisis for private pensions, as well as in-depth, international analyses of private pension arrangements across OECD and selected non-OECD countries. The publication focuses on the role of pension funds, and also provides evidence on public pension reserve funds which complement the financing of social security systems. In addition to essential data on assets, investments, membership, and industry structure based on the latest official statistics, this volume presents a framework for evaluating the trends shaping the pensions industry, based on the role of the private pensions in relation to the public pension system. The Outlook provides comprehensive country profiles, describing private pension arrangements in individual OECD countries. The Outlook can also be used in cross-country comparisons of key facets of retirement systems across OECD and non-OECD countries, using data acquired as part of the OECD Global Pension Statistics project. The performance of private pension systems can be evaluated according to key policy criteria using readily accessible information on the coverage of private pension systems, the adequacy of benefits, solvency, investment performance and administrative efficiency