Romania: Which mandatory pension funds won the battle for Bucharest
ROMANIA. ING, AIG, BCR and BRD are the mandatory pension funds (2nd
pillar pensions) that gathered clients better in Bucharet (Romania's
capital) than at national level, talking market share, research by
www.privatepensions.ro shows. Alltogether, the four funds that
conquered Bucharest have a market share (in terms of clients) of 45% at
national level, but of 56% in Bucharest. These four funds have
shareholders coming from the top of the life insurance and banking
industries.
The mandatory private pensions fund of ING has ING
Life Insurance as its main share holder (Romania's life insurance
market leader), AIG belongs to AIG Life Insurance (2nd biggest player
on the same market), BCR belongs to ERSTE's branch in Romania (the
biggest bank in the system, by assets) and BRD belongs to SOCIETE
GENERALE's branch in Romania (2nd largest local bank).
According to data by The National Statistical Institute, the average gross wage in Bucharest is 40% bigger in Bucharest than the national average, making the mandatory pension funds' customers the most valuable in terms of revenues expected.That is why some pension funds, like ING, AIG, BCR and BRD focused their sales activity on Bucharest in the 4 month initial signup campaign ended last January. As a result, these four funds are actually the only ones now receiving average contributions from their customers that are higher than the market average - in other words, they have the most valuable portfolio of participants.
