INVITATION The WU Gutmann Center cordially invites you to the forthcoming WU GUTMANN CENTER PUBLIC LECTURE www.gutmann-center.at (apologies for duplicated mails!) DATE: DECEMBER 15 (Thursday), 2011 - 4:00 pm Location: Bank Gutmann AG, Schwarzenbergplatz 16, 1010 Wien SPEAKER: Prof. Dr. JEFFREY R. BROWN, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign http://business.illinois.edu/jbrown/ Title: BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF INSURING LIFETIME INCOME ABSTRACT: Economists have long been puzzled by why so few individuals choose to take steps to ensure that they will have guaranteed income for life. After many decades of research having failed to provide a robust answer to this "annuity puzzle," psychologists and behavioral economists have begun to explore alternative explanations for consumers' aversion to annuities and other lifetime income products. This emerging literature suggests that individuals' observed reluctance to insure length-of-life risks is not fully rational. This talk will discuss some "non-rational" explanations for retiree behavior, including the role of complexity, poor financial literacy, sensitivity to framing, the role of default options, and "rules of thumb" that consumers follow when making decisions about lifetime income. The discussion will also focus on the implications of these findings for private markets and public policy responses. ABOUT JEFFREY R. BROWN: Jeffrey R. Brown is the William Karnes Professor of Finance in the College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also serves as Director of the College of Business' Center on Business and Public Policy, and as Associate Director of the NBER Retirement Research Center. Prior to joining the Illinois faculty, Dr. Brown was an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. During 2001-2002, he served as Senior Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, where he focused primarily on Social Security, pension reform, and terrorism risk insurance. During 2001 he also served on the staff of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. In 2006, President Bush nominated, and the Senate confirmed, Dr. Brown as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board. Professor Brown holds a Ph.D. in economics from MIT. Professor Brown has published extensively on public and private insurance markets, including publications in top economic and finance journals and numerous books. He is the recipient of numerous research awards including the TIAA CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security. Professor Brown is a co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance. He has also served as a consultant, expert witness, or expert panelist for the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. General Accounting Office, the U.S. Treasury, and the World Bank. Please REGISTER: Mail: gutmann-center(a)wu.ac.at Phone: +43-1-31336-4244 CONTACT AND FURTHER INFORMATION: WU Gutmann Center for Portfolio Management WU (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien) - Department of Finance, Accounting and Statistics Mag. Dorothea GRIMM www.gutmann-center.at