The 7 voluntary private pension funds (pillar III) on the market last year registered yields of between minus 22.6% and plus 6.6%, with the first contributions collected in June.
The yields were calculated between the date of launch, the same for 4 of the 7 funds, and December 21, the date of last year's last official report.
The two funds managed by ING Asigurari de Viata boasted the biggest yields, with ING Optim posting a 6.6% yield and ING Clasic a 6% one. They were followed by the two funds managed by Allianz-Tiriac: AZT Moderato (3.1%) and AZT Vivace (1.7%), though the funds were launched at different dates.
Four of the 7 funds (ING Clasic, Aviva Pensia Mea, AZT Moderato and BCR Prudent) were launched last June, when the first contributions were also collected, with the other 3 launched subsequently: AZT Vivace in August, ING Optim in September and OTP Strateg in October. All the managers of voluntary private pensions are also players on the market of mandatory pensions, with the period for joining such a fund ending on January 17.
For the time being, voluntary pension funds placed almost all their customers' money in banking deposits, waiting to reach critical mass to diversify their placements and head toward the target portfolio. By law, voluntary pension funds can place their money in whatever instruments they want until they reach net assets of 1m RON. From this threshold, they have 90 days to diversify their investments and get in line with their target portfolio.
Late last year, 4 of the 7 funds had gone beyond the 1m RON threshold and will soon have to invest in line with the issue prospectus.
The diversity of yields on the market is generated not by different placements, but mainly by the different start dates of funds and also by the different strategy of some managers. Fund managers in 2007 gave up certain fees to boost fund yields.
Though ING Viata was the leader of the voluntary pension market in the first weeks, Allianz-Tiriac closed the gap rapidly and took over the leading position until the end of the year. In terms of the number of contributors, Allianz-Tiriac is still the leader, but lags behind BCR Asigurari de Viata in terms of net assets.
Overall, almost 51,000 Romanians contributed to a voluntary pension at one of the 7 funds on December 21. At that time, the funds' assets totalled 2.9m euros.
The voluntary pension market's performance was way below expectations last year, with initial estimates pointing to 30-40m euros for the end of 2007.
This year, the number of voluntary pension funds may double, according to some official statements taking into account players' intentions.
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