Analytics, Financial Services, Lithuania

The medium equity investment PFs remained on top of the popularity list – 76% of the total participants. The number of new participants in this quarter outnumbered the results of the first quarter of 2007 by 27,300 (or 15.9%). In the meantime the membership of conservative investment pension funds and the small equity part funds during the accounting period was, respectively 400 and 1,200, which showed a decrease, i.e., 60 and 1,000 less than in the respective period of the previous year, informs LETA.

During the first quarter of 2008, slightly over 1,300 participants decided to change their pension fund managers, and 4,800 participants shifted to other pension funds. The prevailing trend was for the participants was to shift to higher risk PFs, thus the medium equity part and equity PFs attracted from other kinds of funds (including the participants who changed the pension accumulation company) attracted, accordingly, 4,700 and 1,500 participants, while the conservative investment and small equity share funds were opted for, respectively, by 315 and 314 pension accumulation system participants.

The value of the 2nd pillar pension fund units during the first quarter, 2008 decreased by 0.05%. The conservative investment PF units were the only that were increasing in value, while units of other PFs showed a downward movement: that of small equity share funds dropped by 3.27%, medium equity PF units – by 5.88% with a record fall of 11.25% of the units of equity pension funds. The value decrease has been determined without taking into account the premium deductions, therefore the actual PF investment return is lower.

At the end of the first quarter of 2008, there were nine voluntary supplementary pension accumulation funds (3rd pillar pension funds) managed by 5 management companies, as of that day counting 21,500 participants, representing a drop by 1% as compared with the first quarter of 2007 (193 participants less).

The total assets value of the 3rd pillar pension funds as of March 2008 was reported at LTL 92.18 million (by 11% less than in late 2007). Nearly 63% of the total assets were invested into units of collective investment undertakings and shares.