In fact, it did not change either positively or negatively in the third quarter voluntary pension funds (önyp) attractiveness, similar to the average of the previous period, the number of members of the cash registers increased by slightly more than 7,200 people – according to the Magyar Nemzeti Bank on Wednesday from data communication.
However, it was already known in September what the government was preparing: next year, a one-year time window will be available during which savings in voluntary pension funds can be withdrawn tax-free, if they are used for housing purposes. This did not really discourage the members: in the third quarter alone, HUF 31.3 billion of fresh capital was paid into the pension funds. However, the government only announced the exact details in mid-October, so the fourth quarter numbers promise to be telling.
In addition to the slightly more than 7,000 new members, nearly 4,000 received payments, i.e. reached the retirement age, and almost 2,000 decided to leave, so at the end of the period, 1,69,000 people had voluntary pension fund membership.
The number of funds did not change in the third quarter, 27 remained, while another one of the private pension funds ceased to exist, leaving only two.
At the end of the first three-quarters of the year, the önyp coffers had premium income of HUF 122 billion, which is not much more than last year’s base (HUF 106 billion). Of this year’s contributions, HUF 96 billion came from fund members, and employers contributed another HUF 33 billion to the employees’ self-care goals.
The pension funds “received” nearly HUF 20 billion from the NAV this year, which was the sum of the sja refunds after the payments in 2023. But there were also negative factors, such as the reserve created due to non-paying members (HUF 38.3 billion).
In the first 9 months of the year, roughly as much money left the margin reserve as was paid in by members. Half of this HUF 96 billion (HUF 48 billion) was the payment after reaching the retirement age, HUF 8.5 billion was the withdrawal payment, and HUF 31.5 billion was the payment before the waiting period expired.
The operating costs of voluntary pension funds will reach 7.7 billion in the first three quarters of 2024. The already invested pension fund assets produced a gross return of HUF 213.6 billion this year, of which HUF 185 billion was paid to fund members after deducting costs. Incidentally, the latter falls short of last year’s first 3 quarters of HUF 209 billion.
Based on all this at the end of September, HUF 2,164 billion rested in the önyp portfoliosHUF 65 billion more than at the end of June. Total assets increased by HUF 204 billion this year, including payments and generated income.
The exposure to government securities in the portfolios remains high, the HUF 952 billion government securities stock accounts for 44 percent of the total assets. Only a modest amount remains in shares, HUF 210 billion, 10 percent of the entire portfolio.
Image: economx
The HUF 952 billion stock of government securities could still cause headaches next year: if expectations are confirmed and 14 percent of savers break their pension savings, it would mean the withdrawal of more than HUF 300 billion. Also for pension fund portfolio managers they have to sell HUF 130-140 billion worth of Hungarian government bonds (these are not retail government securities), which are either bought back by the treasury or appear on the secondary market and are absorbed by institutional investors and domestic banks.
Of course, it is impossible to know in advance when self-care workers will take advantage of the time window open throughout 2025, but it is certain that if 130-140 billion forints worth of Hungarian government bonds appear on the secondary market at the same time, it can push the yields up a bit.
There is no change in the fact that the majority of self-care workers can be classified in the 45-59 age group, more than half of the fund members belong to this group.
Compared to the voluntary pension fund membership, very few people remained in the private pension fund system, the number barely exceeds 50,000 people. Data on the evolution of the portfolio are only available at the end of the first half of the year, according to which the two remaining funds have 320 billion in assets left in their portfolios, half of which rests in Hungarian government securities.
The number of health fund members at the end of the semester was 1 million 155 thousand.
The most important figures for the sector:
- by the end of September, the assets of the voluntary pension and health funds exceeded HUF 2.2 trillion;
- the total number of members is 2.12 million people;
- during the first three quarters, the pension funds received practically as many new savings as in the whole of 2017;
- based on the önyp portfolio, one fund member already has an average saving of more than HUF 2 million.
Source: www.economx.hu
