Six companies have already expressed their formal interest in the private pensions market put at over 1bn euros in the next three years. Which are the players that will operate on this market?

The six firms are BCR Asigurari de Viata, Allianz-Tiriac, ING Asigurari de Viata, Aviva Romania, OTP Garancia and Raiffeisen Asset Management, all in various stages of authorisation and licensing, both for pillar II and pillar III. The Private Pensions Commission (CSSPP) expects around 10 private pension managers to operate on the market by yearend. The remaining four will probably include Interamerican, Omniasig, Generali and AIG Life.

For pillar III, of the 6 companies, four have already been granted a licence to operate as managers (BCR Viata, Allianz-Tiriac, ING Viata, Aviva) and two have filed a licensing application (OTP and Raiffeisen).

"From my point of view, the optional pension system is now operational. We have four managers, two companies undergoing authorisation and a total number of 8 funds in various stages of authorisation. It's a matter of weeks until the first contributions are collected," believes Mircea Oancea, CSSPP chairman. The first company to have announced its intention to enter the market was BCR Asigurari de Viata, as early as January.

"For the beginning, we'll enter the optional pension market with a low risk fund. We estimate the market has a potential of 250,000-300,000 customers in the first years, of which BCR Asigurari de Viata plans to grab a 15% share," says Florina Vizinteanu, general manager with the insurer, adding the company plans to file necessary documents for pillar II as well "as soon as possible".

The second firm that filed a licensing application and was subsequently granted the management license was Allianz-Tiriac Pensii Private, the specialised arm of Allianz-Tiriac. It plans to manage at least