We will stimulate pension funds to invest and participate in the economy – said the technical Minister of Finance, and likely new one, Zdravko Marić. Given that pension funds across Europe are in significant trouble, the public is interested in what will happen to ours. When asked by a journalist if he is concerned about the decline in returns on pension savings in the second pillar, due to the low interest rate environment caused by loose monetary policy, Marić emphasized that it is in everyone’s interest for pension fund returns to be “as high and greater as possible.”
– So far, pension funds have invested the largest part of their assets in government bonds. Almost three-quarters of total assets are in government securities. The idea we have promoted, among other things, in this campaign, and which will certainly be an integral part of the future government’s program, is to strengthen certain mechanisms that will stimulate pension funds to invest and participate in the economy, as well as to achieve higher returns, but without neglecting the elements that they must take care of risk, said Marić.
However, what does it mean to stimulate funds to invest more in the Croatian economy? The laws regulating the operation of pension funds today are significantly more liberal than they were, say, five years ago, especially at the beginning of the 2000s when they were established. Regarding regulation, there could still be small changes, especially if pensioners were allowed to invest in limited liability companies (d.o.o.). Now, for example, they are not allowed to invest directly in such companies, but indirectly through private equity funds.
Pensioners say that they actually do not need any stimulation for investment. They need government projects, they need the continuation of privatization and the sale of state shares in companies that are not strategically important for the state (such as water and forests, for example). Did pension funds need stimulation when buying shares of Končar that the state recently sold? No! The Center for Restructuring and Sale (CERP) announced the sale of 526,926 shares of Končar Elektroindustrija at the end of May, or the beginning of June, which is 20.5 percent of the share capital. Thirteen binding offers were received for 757,780 shares, which is 44 percent more than offered. The thirteen offers were worth just over half a billion kuna. In the end, 9 offers were accepted, and the state received 360 million kuna for those shares. Without any problems!
