This dissertation substantiates the conceptual foundations for reforming Ukraine's pension system, specifically focusing on improving mechanisms of state regulation within the funded pension pillar. It is substantiated that under current socio-demographic conditions, the funded model serves as an important instrument for ensuring the long-term financial self-sufficiency of the population, and its effective functioning is impossible without proper state involvement in the regulatory process.
A conceptual framework is developed for understanding the funded pension provision as an integral socio-economic system, where the functions of the state go beyond classical regulatory supervision and include strategic planning, risk management, institutional stimulation, and ensuring systemic equilibrium.
The concept of funded pension provision is elaborated from the standpoint of its economic nature, social significance, and role in the transformation of the institutional structure of the pension system. Based on an analysis of global approaches, it is established that the funded model constitutes an integrated element of the multi-tiered architecture of pension provision, and its reliability is determined by both financial and regulatory factors.
Definitions of key concepts are refined and a logical-functional structuring of the terminology is proposed, allowing the pension mechanism to be understood as a set of organizational, financial, and regulatory instruments aimed at the formation, accumulation, investment, and utilization of pension assets.
Special attention is devoted to the classification of funded pension mechanisms, which in this dissertation is proposed in an integrated format, taking into account the multi-component nature of the pension system. Features are identified according to sources of financing, participation requirements, forms of administration, types of legal relations, categories of participants, and levels of benefit guarantees.
A logical-structural scheme is constructed to illustrate the interaction between state supervision, administrative institutions, and participants in the accumulation system. The evolution of the legal and regulatory framework is analyzed, and a periodization of the formation of the funded tier of pension provision in Ukraine is conducted. The key stages of its development are identified – from the conceptual formalization in the early 2000s, through fragmented attempts at implementation amid political turbulence, to the current stage of systemic preparation for the launch of the second tier. The specifics of each stage are outlined, including key normative, institutional, and communication-related barriers.
The real state of development of Ukraine’s funded pension system is examined in the context of the existing model of state regulation. It is established that the current system operates on a voluntary basis through non-state pension funds, with a limited role for the state as a guarantor of the system’s efficiency and stability. Based on aggregated statistical coverage data, it is revealed that less than 2% of Ukrainian citizens participate in the funded segment, indicating the extreme underdevelopment of the voluntary tier. A multifactor analysis is conducted of the demographic, economic, and behavioral factors driving such low participation: an underdeveloped pension culture, distrust in market institutions, and low service provider efficiency.
A comprehensive empirical assessment of the funded pension system in Ukraine is conducted, utilizing statistical, financial, and institutional indicators. Based on cluster analysis, an in-depth grouping of non-state pension funds is carried out according to key performance parameters, allowing for a more targeted delineation of the sector’s structural features and identification of its bottlenecks. The findings confirm the segmented nature of the market, significant disparities in asset levels, population coverage, quality of management, and operational efficiency. The majority of funds demonstrate low profitability, excessive costs, and slow asset growth, indicating insufficient sectoral capacity for self-development without state intervention. A group of systemically important NPFs is identified, requiring the implementation of differentiated supervision and appropriate regulatory support. Furthermore, a high concentration of participants in a small number of funds is observed, creating risks of market development asymmetry. These conclusions form the basis for further scenario modeling of the development of the second tier of the funded system. The results confirm the inefficiency of the current regulatory approach and highlight the need for its reform based on risk-oriented principles.
