Hanfa: Net assets of mandatory pension funds increased by 293 million euros in January

Net assets of mandatory pension funds (OMF) at the end of January this year amounted to 20.5 billion euros, which is an increase of 293 million euros or 1.5 percent compared to the previous month, according to the monthly report of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa) published on Tuesday.

At the end of January, OMFs had a total of 2,255,736 members, which is 6,911 members or 0.31 percent more compared to December 2023. In January, OMFs recorded 7,940 new members, with the vast majority, 97.8 percent, automatically assigned by Regos (Central Register of Insured Persons).

Due to retirement or death, membership ceased for 1,029 insured persons in January this year.

In January, total net contributions paid into mandatory pension funds amounted to 113.7 million euros, while total amounts paid out upon the closure of personal accounts from all OMFs were 22.2 million euros, or 13.2 million euros less compared to the previous month.

According to Hanfa data, nominal monthly returns of Mirex at the end of January for category A were 1.8 percent, for category B 1.1 percent, and for category C 0.1 percent. Annual returns also had a positive sign in all three categories – in category A, an increase of 13.7 percent was recorded, in category B 9.4 percent, and in category C 3.8 percent. Annualized returns of Mirex since the start of OMFs are also positive, with Mirex A at 7.3 percent, Mirex B at 5.2 percent, and Mirex C at 3.3 percent, Hanfa reported.

Bonds remained the dominant form of investment in the structure of OMFs at the end of January, with 12.6 billion euros and a share of 61.6 percent, although this share decreased by 1.4 percentage points on a monthly basis.

At the same time, the representation of investments in stocks in OMF assets increased by 0.5 percentage points, amounting to 4.7 billion euros, or 22.7 percent of OMF assets at the end of January.

Among other forms of investment, investments in investment funds were the most represented, with 2.2 billion euros and a share of 10.8 percent across all mandatory pension funds, according to Hanfa data for the second pillar of pension savings (individual capitalized savings).

Net assets of voluntary pension funds increased by 15.4 million euros

At the end of January, there were also eight open voluntary pension funds (ODMF) operating in Croatia, which had 396,354 members, and 21 closed voluntary pension funds (ZDMF), with 48,675 members.

Total monthly contributions to voluntary pension funds (DMF) amounted to 11.5 million euros, which is 72.8 percent less than the previous month. At the same time, total monthly payouts reached 6.2 million euros, which is 2.2 million euros or 55 percent more compared to the previous month.

Thus, net assets of DMFs in January reached 1.3 billion euros, which is an increase of 15.4 million euros or 1.2 percent on a monthly basis.

In DMF investments, the largest part of the portfolio consists of bonds, with a share of 53.9 percent in total net assets, followed by stocks with 25.6 percent and investment funds with 10.1 percent.

Insurance companies’ premiums collected in January amounted to 132.3 million euros

In January 2024, a total of 14 insurance companies operated. The total premium collected in the first month of this year amounted to 132.3 million euros, of which 23.9 million euros related to life insurance premiums, and 115.4 million euros to non-life insurance premiums.

In the structure of the collected non-life insurance premium, the most represented is liability insurance for the use of motor vehicles (37.2 percent), followed by insurance for road vehicles (18.6 percent) and fire and natural disaster insurance (nine percent).

The amount of settled claims in January 2024 amounted to 95.2 million euros. Of this amount, 26.1 million euros related to life insurance, and 69.1 million euros to non-life insurance.

In the total amount of settled claims in non-life insurance, liability insurance for the use of motor vehicles accounted for 40.4 percent, road vehicle insurance 20.5 percent, and fire and natural disaster insurance 12.6 percent, as stated in Hanfa’s report.

Hanfa also reported that the total net assets of 108 UCITS funds (open investment funds with public offerings), which operated in Croatia in January, amounted to 2.4 billion euros at the end of the month, which is an increase of 85.8 million euros or 3.8 percent compared to the previous month.

The net assets of the Fund for Croatian War Veterans and their family members at the end of January amounted to 150.5 million euros, with the monthly return of the fund being 2.2 percent.

Last year’s profit of leasing companies was 52 million euros

Hanfa also published data for the previous year regarding leasing companies, of which 15 operated in Croatia at the end of 2023, with a total asset amount of 3.5 billion euros, which increased by 18.8 percent compared to the end of the previous year.

At the same time, the total profit of leasing companies increased on an annual basis by 39.4 percent, reaching 52 million euros.

Hanfa reported that the overdue contracted value of active contracts increased by 28.5 percent in the operational leasing segment and by 19.6 percent in the financial leasing segment on an annual basis. The value of newly concluded contracts increased by 55.3 percent on an annual basis in the operational leasing segment, while in the financial leasing segment, the annual growth of that value was 22.4 percent, as stated in Hanfa’s report.