Ongoing developments in the Supplementary Funded Pension Fund (TEKA) continue to highlight persistent questions about the adequacy of its oversight and governance. An earlier article detailed the fund’s structural weaknesses, including gaps in transparency and accountability. Evidence based concerns are very common both in the media and from concerned citizens. A citizen with TEKA knowledge reflected on that analysis recently, noting that the fund’s performance so far appears to confirm prior concerns about its credibility and fragile governance framework.
In this light, issues also highlighted in “Learning and Adapting to Pensions Best Practices: Why Fixing the Operating System Is Important” and in a presentation at the 6th Occupational Retirement Provision Forum, demonstrate pension reform does not succeed by legislation alone. It succeeds only when embedded in a coherent institutional operating system—an architecture of processes, controls, technical infrastructure, and independent governance.
The questions confronting TEKA today go beyond technical administration. They strike at the institutional foundations of Greece’s pension system and its ability to operate transparently, professionally, and in the public interest. These developments underscore how both external observers and internal stakeholders perceive enduring vulnerabilities within the institution. This prompted some thoughts based on recent developments in the global pension landscape.
International Benchmarks: A Widening Gap
TEKA was created to modernize the Greek pension system and rebuild public trust. Yet three years after its launch, it is reported that the Fund has (Capital, 2025): made no investments, operates without an approved Investment Regulation, and retains most of its capital idle at the Bank of Greece. This inertia is not a procedural delay—it is a structural vulnerability that undermines confidence in Greece’s commitment to pension reform.
The 2025 OECD Pension Markets in Focus report notes that Greece’s pension assets grew over 20% in nominal terms in 2024. However, growth in asset size alone does not ensure effective retirement outcomes. Without robust governance, transparency, and operational capacity—issues TEKA still faces—these funds may remain underutilized, limiting the long-term security of contributors.
Figure — Assets of Pension Providers and Public Pension Reserve Funds (Selected OECD Countries, end‑2023)
The chart compares pension‑system assets across selected OECD countries, showing both “pension providers” (occupational and personal pension plans) and “public pension reserve funds.” It presents these assets as a share of national GDP and in absolute USD‑billion terms, highlighting differences in the scale and maturity of funded pension systems.
Greece has relatively small pension‑fund assets, both as a share of GDP and in absolute USD terms, compared with OECD peers. This highlights the country’s underdeveloped funded pension system relative to more mature schemes in countries like the Netherlands or Switzerland.
Other international comparisons reinforce the picture. Greece remains far from the top performers in the 2025 Natixis Global Retirement Index, where strong governance and institutional transparency underpin retirement security in countries such as Norway and Switzerland. TEKA’s shortcomings mirror the broader weaknesses that keep Greece near the bottom of global rankings. By contrast, Cyprus has risen into the top 25, demonstrating how effective governance and institutional reforms can translate into measurable improvements in retirement security.
Plato’s Cave and the Ethics of Speaking Truth
Concerns about government incompetence are present in the public sphere from experts, concerned citizens, and also whistleblowers. This is very common on the world stage and not only in Greece. Whistleblowers in particular have always stood in the harsh spotlight, emerging from the shadows to confront us with truths we would rather not see. Like the figures in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, they step beyond the veil of shadows, glimpse unsettling realities, and then bear both the burden—and the danger—of returning to illuminate them for others.
Australia’s Public Interest Disclosure Act is a reminder that whistleblowers are essential to institutional integrity. A 10 per cent rise in ethical behavior in Australia by companies and government institutions would add $45 billion to GDP annually, according to analysis by Deloitte Access Economics and The Ethics Centre . This is reflected in Australia’s total pension assets are approximately 140–150% of GDP, making it one of the largest pension pools globally, by adopting benchmarks of best practice. In contrast, government spending on the Age Pension ( which is a safety net to support those that fall behind) is around 2.3–2.5% of GDP and is projected to fall to 2.0% by 2060.
In the United States, a powerful modern example pushing the ethical agenda in the pension sphere is Diann Shipione, the pension trustee who exposed structural weaknesses in the San Diego pension system. Her warnings triggered investigations, governance reforms, and strengthened oversight—precisely because she refused to accept the shadows as reality. The lesson is straightforward: institutions prosper only when transparency, accountability, and meritocracy are protected.
Conclusion: TEKA as a Test of Greece’s Reform Credibility
TEKA now stands at a strategic crossroads. Moving forward, it can choose to adopt professional governance, embrace full transparency, and implement merit-based processes that honor the savings of young workers, or it can remain as it is—a symbol of institutional stagnation, a modern cave of shadows.
This choice aligns with the broader reform agenda identified in the Pissarides Report, which emphasizes the centrality of institutional quality, human capital, and state capacity in Greece’s long-term development. TEKA’s performance, or lack of it, is a revealing index of Greece’s broader struggle to modernize its governance structures and restore public trust.
As noted by Milton Friedman in a contextual way:
“Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his/her own. Nobody uses somebody else’s resources as carefully as he/she uses his/her own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property.”
Well-regulated private pension pillars should be an alternative option to TEKA for the pension savings of citizens, one that can complement the public scheme by enhancing long-term savings discipline, improving investment performance, and distributing responsibility in a way that strengthens overall retirement security. Raising economic literacy in Greece is therefore crucial, as it empowers individuals to manage their own resources effectively and make informed decisions that secure their financial futures.
*Dr Steve Bakalis is an economist with interests in political economy, social justice, and public administration, having collaborated with La Trobe University, the University of Melbourne, Victoria University, and universities in the Asia-Pacific region and the Arabian Gulf.
