Private Pension Funds' Net Assets Up 3.5% In April, To RON5.43B

05.17.2011 By Ioana Tudor

The net assets of Romania’s mandatory private pension funds (Pillar II) and voluntary pension funds (Pillar III) hit 5.43 billion lei (about EUR1.3 billion) at the end of April, up 3.5% from March, private pension regulator CSSPP said Tuesday.

According to CSSPP, the number of contributors to the two funds increased by 0.4%, to 5.52 million, in the analyzed period.

Mandatory private pension funds reported net assets of RON5.06 billion at the end of April, up 3.6% on the month.

The nine mandatory pension funds had 5.29 million contributors in April, compared to 5.27 million a month before.

Contributions transferred to private pension funds stood at RON157.92 million, up 2.02% on the month, and 17.57% higher on the year, according to CSSPP data.

About 66.32% of the assets on Pillar II were invested in state treasuries in April.

Corporate bonds accounted for 9.041% of the total assets on Pillar II in April, down from 15.91% in the same month of 2010. Some 5.9% of the funds' assets were placed in bank deposits, while 14.5% were in shares.

Voluntary pension funds' net assets totaled RON372.3 million in April, up 2.5% on the month.

The number of Pillar III contributors stood at 234,942 in April, up from 230,586 in March.

According to CSSPP, 52.78% of contributors had their voluntary pension contributions paid by their employers, 34.86% paid their contributions themselves and 12.36% paid their contributions together with their employers.

About 65.36% of the assets on Pillar III were invested in state treasuries in April.

The first contributions to voluntary pension funds were made in May 2007, while the first contributions to the mandatory pension funds were made a year later. (EUR1=RON4.1051)