Pension funds bet 70m euros on the Stock Exchange

Private pension funds have constantly boosted their capital market exposure in the past year, with their investments in listed stock now standing at 283m RON (67m euros), 16 times more than a year ago. Thus, in late January, mandatory pension funds (pillar II) had investments worth 253m RON in shares, while voluntary ones had 30m RON, according to the data provided by the Private Pension System Supervision Commission. The weight of stock investments in total assets stands at 10% in the case of mandatory funds, compared with 1.5% a year ago, and at 14% in the case of voluntary ones, compared with 4.7% in January 2009. "Looking at the maximum percentage pension funds can invest in listed stock, of 30-50% in assets, depending on the risk profile, we can see there's much room for growth. 2010 will also be a year of cautious capital market exposure growth," stated Simona Ditescu, general manager of BCR private pension manager. As for the stocks funds invest in, Ditescu says they are mainly blue chips, with high liquidity.