As at 30 September 2011 the value of assets under management by Austrian Pensionskassen totalled €14.5 billion, representing a fall of 2.3%. By way of comparison, the value of assets managed by insurance undertakings authorised to provide occupational pension group insurance in Austria increased by 2.1%, climbing to €490.6 million. In respect of investments, the average investment result recorded by all Pensionskassen in the third quarter of 2011 was down 2.8%. The news was disclosed in the Report on Q3 2011 Performance of Austrian Pensionskassen published today by the Financial Market Authority FMA.
As at the end of Q3, around one quarter of investments in shares, which in total represented 25.1% of managed assets, were hedged with derivative instruments. Accordingly, the net share ratio (share ratio after allowing for derivative hedging measures) constituted 18.8% of the total assets under management. So far this year, a lower effective share ratio has mitigated the losses from investment activities (in Q3 alone the Austrian Traded Index ATX lost 29.6% of its value, while EURO STOXX 50 shed 23.5%). The average year-to-date performance as at the end of the third quarter was down 4.0%. For the group of Pensionskassen with the lowest share ratio (on average 7.4% of invested assets), the corresponding indicator was -1.9%.
The assets of the Pensionskassen are held almost entirely (93.4%) indirectly, though investment funds. Valuation relief measures for debt instruments (variation from requirement to state at market value due to assets being classified as held to maturity) permitted by the Pensionskassengesetz (PKG; Pensionskasse Act) are used for around 4.7% of the total assets. The remaining portion of investments were valued at the corresponding current market prices, as a result of which valuation allowances on debt securities, for example, had largely already had a negative effect on performance by Q3 2011.
The largest change in the composition of the investment portfolio concerned the share ratio, which fell by 5.3 percentage points. The share of corporate bonds also dropped. In contrast, the shares of government bonds and of bank deposits both grew, by 2.7 and 3.3 percentage points respectively. Government bonds and bonds guaranteed by state or regional governments, continue to account for the largest share of the portfolio, totalling 36.3%. The second largest component is shares, which make up 25.1%. Corporate bonds are the third largest type of investment, comprising 16.5%. Credit held at banks accounts for 11.0%.
The total number of beneficiaries remained almost unchanged compared with the previous quarter.
You can find the full Quarterly Report (in German) on the FMA website at: https://www.fma.gv.at/pensionskassen/offenlegung/quartalsberichte/
Journalists may address further enquiries to
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43/(0)1/24959-5106
+43/(0)676/882 49 516