GERMANY- AOK, Germany’s largest health insurance company, is to become the latest client of MetallRente, industry wide retirement provision company for the German metal, electronics, steel and textiles industries. AOK’s 65,000 employees will be offered the service, taking the scheme’s potential membership up to 700,000.

Berlin-based MetallRente will offer three different types of retirement provision scheme, direct insurance, the traditional German Pensionskasse or the new Pensionfonds structure to AOK’s employees. By opting for all three types of provision, AOK becomes MentallRente’s largest client.

AOK decided to join a industry-wide scheme due to the more favourable rates on offer, and as a result of the Riester reform.

“We want to offer our employees MetallRente’s spectrum of products so that there is the right instrument for any type of investor, and to show our employees we are actively dealing with the issue of pensions”, says Rolf Hoberg, chairman of the board for AOK.

Says Heribert Karch, manager of MettallRente: “with AOK joining us we now have the possibility of a potential membership of 700,000, which could even hit the 1m mark by the end of the year.”

AOK joins 500 other companies being served by MetallRente. The system was established in 2001 and although focuses on the metal, electronics, steel and textile industries, other industries have now signed up.

Though initially most workers re expected to take out the new scheme as a supplement to an existing occupational plan, it is thought that new workers will use the new system as their main source of retirement provision, apart from their state pension entitlement.

Allianz was appointed at the end of last year to lead a consortium of managers in running the assets of the Metall-Rente when it becomes effective.

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