Assets under management in Spain’s individual pension plans grew by €2.1bn in the first nine months of the year, reaching €87.5bn by the end of September, according to data from VDOS.

The 2.46 per cent increase was largely driven by positive investment performance, which added around €3bn to portfolios, although this was partially offset by net outflows of €896m.

Independent managers recorded the strongest growth in percentage terms, up 5.69 per cent, followed by credit cooperatives with 3.65 per cent. In absolute terms, independent groups also led net inflows, attracting €10m during the period.

Despite this, banks continued to dominate Spain’s pension market, holding 76.75 per cent of total assets under management, compared with 7.9 per cent for independent groups and 5.65 per cent for insurers.

Among the major players, Caixabank remained the market leader with €24.9bn in assets and a 28.46 per cent market share. BBVA follows with €16.5bn (18.84 per cent) and Santander ranks third with €10.7bn (12.24 per cent).

By asset class, fixed income plans saw the largest net inflows, totalling €554m, followed by money market plans with €85m, while equity plans recorded the highest net redemptions at €350m.

Mixed funds continued to dominate the Spanish pension market, accounting for €55bn, or 62.8 per cent of total assets, followed by equity funds with €18.5bn.

Performance across managers was broadly positive. Among larger institutions, Caser Pensiones led with an average return of 7.27 per cent, followed by Bankinter Seguros de Vida (5.92 per cent) and Cajamar Vida (5.86 per cent).

In the independent segment, Cobas Pensiones posted the highest return in the market so far this year, with a weighted average of 19.44 per cent, ahead of GVC Gaesco Pensiones (7.88 per cent) and Bestinver Pensiones (6.85 per cent).

Across categories, Spanish equity plans delivered the best performance, returning 33.8 per cent, followed by Asian emerging markets (13.55 per cent) and Euro equity (12.78 per cent).

Even Euro money market plans remained in positive territory, with a modest 1.49 per cent gain.

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