Generali: Banks should assist in selling private pension products

Banks should get involved directly in the private pensions system by selling products in partnership with future pension managers, believes Werner Moertel, a member of the executive board of the Generali Holding Viena group, responsible for Central and Eastern European area. According to Moertel, Generali Asigurari (Generali Insurance) is preparing to enter the pension sector in Romania, but is waiting for legislative and technical details to be cleared up. The company’s major area of interest is the market of private compulsory pensions (the second pillar), estimated to begin operating from January 1, 2008. “We have already rented the office space for the future private pensions company, we have appointed Tudor Moldovan (the general manager) head of operations, we have made a capital increase in order to sustain entry into the pension system and now we are preparing our business plan and market estimates. We intend to wait until the legislation and technical details, such as the IT system for the collection of contributions, are clarified,” Moertel added. “It is however possible, that if the system should not work as expected, we may abandon our pensions project altogether in Romania, although this is unlikely,” added Moertel.