OTP expects 270,000 clients on private pensions market

The financial group OTP, which currently owns both a bank and an insurance company on the domestic market, estimates it will attract 270,000 clients on the private pensions market by the end of this year – 250,000 for mandatory pensions (the 2nd pillar) and 20,000 for voluntary pensions (the 3rd pillar). The Hungarian financial group is already authorised to sell voluntary pensions and is waiting for the necessary approval to manage mandatory pensions.
“This year, we estimate we will account for a 10-12% market share, both for the 2nd and the 3rd pillars,” says Marius Floarea, general manager of OTP Fond de Pensii (OTP Pension Fund). Marius Floarea is the former marketing and network management director of BCR Asigurari (BCR Insurance).
OTP has already submitted a request to the Private Pension Supervision Commission (CSSPP) in order to set up OTP Fond de Pensii, a company which will operate on the 2nd pillar. If approved, OTP Fond de Pensii will also need to submit a request in order to be authorised as a manager of mandatory pension funds.
The insurance company of the Hungarian group, OTP Garancia, which received authorisation from the CSSPP last week, will handle the management of the voluntary pension funds. On the same day it was granted its licence as a manager, the company also received approval for the pension scheme prospectus of its first fund, “OTP Strateg Fond de Pensii Facultative” (OTP Strategist Voluntary Pensions Fund), which carries a medium risk. The company plans to launch another two pension funds, one carrying a low risk, and the other one – a high level of risk. “The investment structure imposed by the current legislation does not allow investments to be made with high risk financial instruments, so there won’t be a huge difference between the low, medium and high risk schemes,” says the manager of OTP Fond de Pensii. The company is expected to start selling voluntary pensions midway through this month.
“Our estimates point to a significant rise in 2008, when the pension system will start to function properly,” added Marius Floarea.