Assets under management (AUM) in Spain's individual pension plan system increased by €2.52bn in May, a 2.78 per cent rise from April, bringing total assets to €93.1bn, according to VDOS.

International groups recorded the strongest growth in percentage terms, with assets rising 3.36 per cent, ahead of independent managers (3.24 per cent) and insurers (2.9 per cent).

Banks continued to dominate the market, accounting for 76.41 per cent of total assets. Independent groups and insurers held market shares of 8.33 per cent and 5.83 per cent, respectively.

By provider, CaixaBank remained the largest manager with €26.3bn in AUM and a 28.29 per cent market share. BBVA followed with €17.4bn (18.71 per cent), while Santander held €11.2bn, representing 12 per cent of the market.

Equity funds led asset growth by category, increasing by €1.22bn, followed by mixed funds, which added €802m.

In contrast, money market plans recorded the largest decline, falling by €13m. Mixed funds remained the dominant category, with €41.8bn in assets and a 44.91 per cent market share, followed by equity funds with €21.4bn.

In terms of performance, Caser Pensiones was the top performer among the major managers with a return of 3.59 per cent, followed by VidaCaixa (3.32 per cent) and Occident Pensiones (3.09 per cent).

Among independent managers, Bestinver Pensiones posted the highest return at 5.41 per cent, ahead of Abante Pensiones (3.93 per cent) and Feelcapital Pensiones (3.15 per cent).

By VDOS categories, emerging Asia equity funds led returns with 9.41 per cent, followed by global equity funds (6.01 per cent) and US equity funds (5.95 per cent).

At the lower end of the rankings, euro money market funds returned 0.2 per cent, while short-term international fixed income funds gained 0.21 per cent.

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