The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) today published two circular letters on occupational retirement provision: the “Circular concerning parallel pension products” and the “Circular concerning the administration of pension company commitments in investment and risk sharing groups pursuant to Article 12 para. 6 PKG”. The first circular relates to both Pensionskassen (pension companies) and occupational group insurance offered by insurance undertakings, while the second relates solely to Pensionskassen. They address outstanding issues that have arisen from the latest reforms of the occupational retirement provision system.
Parallel pension products are those that are offered when an employer agrees contracts with more than one Pensionskasse and/or occupational group insurance within the scope of their occupational retirement provision. The circular relating to this clarifies the options available for changing or ending an existing pension company commitment when an (additional) occupational group insurance commitment is created (and vice versa), explaining what options are permitted for individual and group switching.
Article 12 para. 6 of the Pensionskassen Act (PKG) stipulates that it is also possible for one or more sub-investment groups (sub-IG) to be created for the purpose of managing the assets of the beneficiaries of an investment and risk sharing group (IRG). If advantage is taken of this possibility, the individual beneficiaries must be granted the right to switch between the sub-IGs and/or to another IRG. The corresponding circular clarifies the method of forming a sub-IG and the options and restrictions that apply to beneficiaries when switching between IRG and/or sub IGs.
The full text of the circulars (in German only) can be found on the FMA website: https://www.fma.gv.at/fma/fma-rundschreiben/
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43 (0)1 24959 5106
+43 (0)676 882 49 516