ZAGREB, 18 March (2022) - The net asset value of Croatia's mandatory pension funds (OMF) at the end of February amounted to HRK 129.99 billion, down HRK 3.1 billion or 2.35% compared to January, reflecting negative financial trends amid the escalation of geopolitical tension, the HANFA supervisory agency said on Friday.
"The increased macroeconomic uncertainty in the first half of February resulted in an increase in global risk premiums, which was negatively reflected on valuations on financial markets, both foreign and domestic. The escalation of geopolitical tension in the second half of February created an additional external shock to the price of share and bond securities on international markets. Consequently, OMFs' net assets decreased by HRK 3.1 billion or 2.35% in February and amounted to HRK 129.99 billion at the end of the month," the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency - HANFA's February report said.
The negative trends on financial markets caused by the war in Ukraine have also affected the Mirex monthly yields which had a negative prefix in February for all categories.
The annual Mirex yield is still positive, HANFA said.
Four mandatory pension funds had 2,119,135 members in February, which is 3,585 or 0.17% more than in January.
In February 4,517 new members were registered with OMFs, with 96.5% having been automatically assigned by the Regos central insuree registry, while 932 members were erased from funds due to retirement or death, HANFA said.
At the end of February, bonds continued to be the dominant form of investment by OMFs, amounting to HRK 83.6 billion, a share of 64.3%, up 2.3 percentage points month-on-month.
At the same time, investments in shares decreased by 1.1 percentage points and amounted to HRK 26.5 billion, a share of 20.4% in OMF assets.
Of the other forms of investments, the most prominent were investments in investment funds, amounting to HRK 15.4 billion, a share of 11.85%, HANFA reported.
Net assets of voluntary funds, UCITS decrease as well
At the end of February, there were also eight open-end voluntary pension funds (ODMF) with 355,599 members and 20 closed-end voluntary pension funds (ZDMF), with 46,024 members.
Total monthly payments into voluntary pension funds (DMF) amounted to HRK 64.7 million, which is 17% less m-o-m. At the same time, total monthly payments made by voluntary pension funds amounted to HRK 32.5 million or 3.7% less m-o-m.
As a result of negative market valuations, net assets in DMFs in February decreased by HRK 209.8 million or 2.68% and amounted to HRK 7.62 billion, HANFA said.
Bonds accounted for the largest portion of the investment portfolio of DMFs, with a 54.4% share of total net assets, followed by investments in shares, accounting for 24.8% and investment funds with 12%.
In February a total of 95 UCITS (open-end investment funds with a public offering) operated in Croatia, with total net assets of HRK 18.97 billion, down HRK 2.1 billion or 10.1% month on month.
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