The private pension system is regulated, supervised and guaranteed sufficiently enough as to prevent an FNI-type scenario from reoccurring. This was the conclusion of the "Private pensions: guarantees against another FNI case" seminar organised by ZIARUL FINANCIAR in partnership with Interamerican Pensii yesterday.
FNI (National Investment Fund) was the biggest case of bankruptcy of a mutual fund in Romania that left a 300 million-dollar loss behind and 300,000 customers that never got their money back.
The management companies on the market, the regulatory and supervisory authority and the labour unions believe private pensions will be the safest instrument for long-term savings on the market. Private pensions will be the deal of the century, with the assets in the system set to reach 10 billion euros in the next decade and more than 40 billion euros in the ten years after that, estimates show. "The guarantee and supervisory mechanisms make it impossible for a FNI-like event to happen in the case of private pensions," says Mircea Oancea, chairman of the Private Pension System Supervisory Commission (CSSPP).
The mechanism to guarantee private pensions entails cooperation of the supervisory and regulatory authority with the depositary bank and the audit institution so that the clients' funds are safe, the market representatives explained.
Four management companies are now authorised for the third pillar (optional pensions), which are Allianz-Tiriac Pensii Private, ING Asigurari de Viata, Aviva and BCR Asigurari de Viata, each of them with one authorised fund, as well as two banks, BCR and BRD, three auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Deloitte, and almost 5,000 individuals working as marketing agents that are authorised to sell optional pensions. No entities have been authorised for the second pillar (mandatory pensions) so far, as the process is in its early stages.
Oancea estimates the number of management companies will be around 8 or 9 on the optional pension segment (pillar III, where the sales have already started), and about 10-12 on the mandatory pension segment (pillar II, where sales are due to begin in August). The CSSPP chairman added that the private pension system would also have a solvency guarantee system in place similar to Basel II (used for banks) and to Solvency II (used for insurance companies).
Frans van der Ent, general manager of Interamerican Pensii, says 2007 will be the year of mandatory pensions (pillar II).
"I expect all players to focus on mandatory private pensions this year. Based on international experience, optional pensions will probably develop over several years, and the market will be undivided from the beginning," he said.
Interamerican has filed for approval to establish a pension company, which will operate for both the third and the second pillar pensions. "Pillar II will be the base of the business but needs to be complemented in pillar III. Private pensions are a business for the future, especially considering the demographic boom anticipated throughout the world," stated Frans van der Ent.
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