Members of the Management Board of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) presented a new website on Monday, dedicated to improving the financial literacy of citizens. The portal Money for Tomorrow is aimed at everyone who wants to think responsibly about money, manage their standard of living, and plan for their future. The founder of the portal is HANFA, which aims to assist and support readers in developing their knowledge about money, with a primary focus on responsible investing based on timely information provided, as well as well-considered personal decisions.
The need for financial education among citizens in Croatia is extremely high, especially in a time of changing consumer and saving habits due to the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on personal finances, stated the president of the Management Board of HANFA, Ante Žigman, during the presentation of the site, emphasizing the three main determinants of financial knowledge among citizens that we need to improve: „Long-term planning of savings for the next 10, 15, and 20 years or even more is very important to prepare the foundations for retirement on time, rather than starting to think about it at 55 years old. Then it is important for people to be as financially savvy as possible, not to fall for false promises, and not to lose their earned or saved money, for example, through websites that offer quick wealth. And third, but not least, we need to learn to read information and documents in detail when deciding which service to choose and what contract to sign“.
Reflecting on the current results of financial literacy, Žigman expects a greater contribution from financial companies, especially pension fund management companies. To this end, HANFA has prescribed guidelines for strengthening financial literacy.
Considering that terms related to the pension system and pension savings are still insufficiently known to the general public, these guidelines will contribute to greater public presence and recognition of pension funds, better understanding of pension terms, and strengthening the overall level of financial literacy among citizens. The guidelines also define and encompass the separation of activities for strengthening financial literacy from promotional activities of companies, the obligation of strategies in implementing activities, segmentation of activities according to target groups, the method of reporting to regulators about activities, and more.
Pension companies will regularly report to HANFA on the activities undertaken, and these obligations should not be viewed as fulfilling a legal obligation but as a contribution to better visibility of the work of pension companies and strengthening the trust of insured persons in the overall pension system.
Highlighting that the net assets of pension funds, totaling 113 billion kuna, have managed to return to levels before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as that investment funds began to record the start of a return of investors after a difficult period of asset decline in March, Management Board member Tomislav Ridzak also commented on the approval of moratoriums by leasing companies. „The value of all leasing contracts is around 18 billion kuna, of which a moratorium of 6.3 billion kuna has been requested, which represents 84% of the already realized moratoriums. Most moratoriums have been approved for financial leasing with legal entities, while consumers have requested a moratorium of 184 million kuna. He emphasized that the Money for Tomorrow website can encourage citizens to inquire as much as possible about certain products because this way the financial industry will offer more, and consumers will know in advance what they want to contract. The recent earthquake in Zagreb and frequent inquiries from citizens to HANFA have shown that insurance users do not have the right information about whether their property insurance policy covers earthquake damage and, if so, to what extent. Through this portal, we want to clarify all of this,“ emphasized Ridzak.
Deputy Chairman of the Management Board Jurica Jednačak emphasized that a series of articles will pay special attention to small investors. Not only in Croatia but also beyond, citizens are increasingly bombarded via social media with false advertisements from foreign investment companies that have not reported their operations in Croatia to HANFA. Our site, claims Jednačak, will, along with educational content about the risks of investment products, be particularly dedicated to such forms of fraud. He also emphasized that this will be an opportunity for small investors to further raise awareness of their rights as minority shareholders, as recognizing their shareholder rights and rights to information about the company will encourage the development of good corporate governance of issuers, thereby contributing to the overall development of the capital market in Croatia.
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