2.6 million employees have already joined a pension fund

Over 2.6 million employees under 45 have already joined one of the 18 mandatory private pension funds (the 2nd pillar). Sales have seen a significant slowdown over the last two weeks, whilst leaders have preserved their positions. Out of a total of 2.62 million Romanians who have already opted for a pension fund, over 426,000 have signed contracts over the last two weeks alone, according to reports sent by the 18 managers to the National Pensions and Social Security Office (CNPAS) on Tuesday. This latest bimonthly report was the fifth, out of a series of eight, which will end on January 25, 2008. Pension sales have slowed down significantly, compared with the around 477,000 contracts reported two weeks ago. According to Monday’s reporting, ING remains leader of the ranking, with over 878,000 clients (33.3% out of the total 2.6 million), followed by Allianz-Tiriac (over 670,000, i.e. 25.5%) and Generali (over 246,000 clients, i.e. 9.4%). Aviva, Interamerican and AIG are the other three funds, which have managed to cross the 100,000-client mark in the first two and a half months. Fund managers expect to attract around 3.5 million participants by the end of the four months of sales. Under the circumstances, 75% of this forecast has already been met, two and a half months into the sales process.