Optional pension fund placements are 86% in bank deposits

Total assets of the seven funds exceeded €760,000 by October 19, with expenses amounting to 0.08 percent of these assets. CSSPP President, Mircea Oancea, said the volume of assets is significantly lower than initially forecast. However, he added, there is major potential for growth.

“We expect the number of optional pension funds to double in 2008,” he added.

The seven existing funds are administered by five companies. Several administrators recently announced their plans to enter the optional pension market: Interamerican, BT Aegon and KD Life. Furthermore, BCR Asigurãri de Viaþã is to launch a second pension fund by the end of the year.

According to CSSPP estimates, some 300,000 clients will subscribe to the third pillar, while pension fund assets are likely to amount to some €60 mln. The value of net assets rose 19 percent from October 12-19 alone.

The AZT Moderato fund, administered by Allianz-Þiriac Pensii Private, owns 46 percent of the market’s net assets. Allianz-Þiriac Pensii Private is administering a further high risk pension fund, AZT Vivace.

ING Classic fund ranks second, with a 23 percent share, with multinational lender ING administering this and one other fund.

Sources from within companies operating on the private pension market have indicated that there has been an increase in unit-linked life insurance policies since the private pension system went into effect this year.