The weighted average return of the seven funds in Romania’s pillar II pension system was 5.88 per cent in 2021, according to the Association for Privately Administered Pensions in Romania (APAPR).

The 2021 return translates into a net gain for participants worth RON 4.5bn. The total number of participants registered in the system reached 7.78 million at the end of 2021, of which four million are paying monthly contributions.

The aggregate assets of the seven finds reached over RON 89bn in 2021, and an increase of 18.6 per cent compared to the end of 2020.

Since its launch in 2008, pillar II pensions have recorded an average annual return of 8 per cent, generating RON 21.7bn for participants.

The total volume of contributions transferred to Pillar II in 2021 was RON 9.77bn, 9.6 per cent higher than in 2020, which APAPR was due to an increase in salaries and new participants entering the system.

In addition, in 2021, the administrators made payments to participants and beneficiaries totalling RON 278m, 56 per cent higher than in 2020. The total value of payments made from pillar II since its launch is RON 675m.

In addition, APAPR revealed that only 780,000 Romanians check their pillar II pensions online – equating to just 10 per cent of the 7.78 registered participants. All seven of the existing administrators in the market offer this facility.

As a result, APAPR is currently running a large national information campaign (TV and online) to raise awareness of this option.

"Accessing online information about individual private pension accounts is a benefit that we want to promote in the future, given the advantages of transparency and accessibility it offers. I encourage all those who have a privately managed pension to open an online account with the administrator of their fund,” APAPR president, Radu Craciun, said.

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