"Practically speaking, over 50 percent of employees under the age of 45 have subscribed to the Second Pillar. I believe some 3.4 million people will subscribe to a mandatory pension fund by the end of the campaign, on 17 January 2008," Oancea added.

ING Fond de Pensii, controlled by the Dutch ING Continental Europe Holdings, is leader of the mandatory pension market, with some 700,000 clients in the first 45 days of the subscription campaign, said Bram Boon, General Manager of ING Asigurari de Viata. He added that ING Fond de Pensii signed some 1,500 Second Pillar contracts every hour. "Our target is attracting one million clients on Pillar II, which means 30 percent of the number of eligible persons. When we announced our objective, there were voices on the market who expressed their doubts. However the results confirm our forecasts," said Boon.

According to CSSPP, as of 1 November 2007, ING Fond de Pensii was market leader, followed by Allianz-Tiriac, and Generali. The subscription campaign began on 17 September. For a period of four months, employees under 35 years will have to subscribe to a mandatory private pension fund. Employees between the ages of 36 and 45 years may choose whether or not to subscribe to such a fund.