Giurescu on Monday said the financial authority and the local pension fund association APAPR are working together to develop investment instruments in order to contribute to Romania’s economic growth.
Under the law, private pension fund managers can invest the administered assets, namely, up to 50% of the total value of a pension fund’s assets, in securities traded on the regulated and supervised markets in Romania, the European Union member states or the European Economic Area (EEA) countries.
They can also invest up to 10% of the total value of a pension fund’s assets in bonds and other securities traded on the regulated and supervised markets, which are issued by the public local authorities in third countries.
APAPR vice-president Mihai Coca-Cozma said that in the next two years, private pension funds will have around EUR50 million available to participate in initial public offerings (IPOs) and corporate bonds.
The assets of the mandatory private pension funds (Pillar II) reached RON15.46 billion (EUR3.47 billion), according to APAPR data.
Pension funds are expected to reach net assets of EUR10 billion in 2018, compared to net assets of over EUR3.5 billion currently.
At the end of 2013, private pension funds on the mandatory segment had 6.04 million contributors and net assets amounting to RON13.56 billion. The first contributions to mandatory private pensions were made in May 2008.