This report summarises the results of the 2013 International Pension Plan (IPP) survey, an annual survey conducted by Towers Watson regarding IPP specific design elements and membership criteria. The 2013 survey covers 438 IPPs sponsored by 406 companies. This represents an increase in participation of approximately 10% from last year's survey. This increase partly reflects the publicity and increased general interest in the IPP survey, but also reflects the fact that new plans are being set up continuously. According to the survey participants, 15 new IPPs were reported as having been established over the last year.
For purposes of continuity and comparability, we have kept the format of the report and the survey questions the same as last year. As in previous years, the survey includes large and mid-sized multinational employers across a variety of industry sectors, which employ expatriate and local workforces participating in IPPs, ranging from less than 10 members to over 7,000. Our survey covers the basic information around IPP membership criteria (plan size and location), plan design (such as defined contribution (DC), defined benefit (DB) or hybrid), funding, vesting criteria, vehicle, employer and employee contribution amounts, investment funds and retirement distribution options.