Another four mandatory private pension schemes (pillar II) received the green light from the Specialised Commission (CSSPP) last week, with the total number of schemes now reaching seven.
How do the newest four products look, and what kind of surprises do they bring?
The four authorised prospectuses belong to Prima Pensie (a company set up by Slovenia's Prva company), Interamerican Pensii, Omniasig Pensii and AIG Pensii. For these to be effectively available for sale, the Specialised Commission will have to authorise the funds as well, after giving the go-ahead for their prospectuses.
The fund managed by Interamerican Pensii brings the biggest surprise: the first cut in management fees, after most managers had stated they would use the maximum limits imposed by law. Thus, after deducting 2.5% of a customer's contributions (the initial management fee), Interamerican will not levy the permanent management fee (0.05% per month or 0.6% per annum, deducted from the fund's asset) during the first two years, namely 2008 and 2009.
Out of the seven prospectuses to be authorised so far, only Interamerican has implemented this fee promotion, with the specification that Aviva has not communicated the level of the respective fees to ZF for publishing.
The lack of the management fee during the first two years could represent a serious sale argument for the Interamerican fund and an additional element of attractiveness for the fund's future customers.
All four of the new mandatory pension schemes carry a medium-risk profile, just like the other three prospectuses authorised in the first wave. They have a similar structure of asset allocation in their target portfolios, namely approximately 70 percent in instruments regarded as safe (government bonds and foreign private bonds) and 30 percent in more risky instruments (listed stock, bon
