Assets under management (AUM) of Austrian pension funds saw an uptick in the last quarter of 2022, increasing by €11.56m or by 0.05% compared with the previous quarter to €24.35bn, according to a report by the Financial Market Authority (FMA) published last week.

AUM fell by €2.63bn or 9.75% year-on-year in 2022, as the Russian war against Ukraine hit financial markets, the report added.

While the amount of total assets progressed for the country’s five multi-employer schemes, or überbetriebliche Pensionskassen, quarter-on-quarter in Q4 by 0.16% to €22.24bn, the amount held by the three company pensions fell by 1.2% during the period to €2.10bn.

The multi-employer schemes and company pension funds operating in Austria invest the largest asset allocation in bonds (31.71%) and in equities (36.82%), while 13.12% is invested in other types of investments, 8.74% in deposits held by financial institutions, 7.11% in real estate, and 2.50% in credit and loans.

Close to 29.15% of total assets are invested in foreign currencies and 96.38% of pension funds’s assets are held in investment funds. Pensionskasssen directly hold assets invested in loans and credits, and held-to-maturity bonds.

In the last quarter of 2022, Austrian pension funds cut allocations to bonds by 0.18%, to real estate by 0.11% and to other types of investments by 0.58%, while increasing investments in credit by 0.49%, in equities by 0.22% and in deposits by financial institutions by 0.16%, according to the report.

Market volatility last year led to pension funds’ overall negative performance (-9.68%), compared with a positive 9.68% in 2021. The performance was positive in the past five and 10 years, at 1.08% and 3.08%, respectively.

The assets are managed by pension funds through so-called collective assessment and risk management institutions, catering for at least 1,000 beneficiaries, as special assets protected in the case of bankruptcy of a pension fund.

The number of pension funds’ beneficiary members has increased in the fourth quarter of last year to 1.04 million, up 1.14% or 137,000, including a 13.14% share of the total already receiving pension benefits.

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Luigi is IPE's Berlin-based DACH correspondent. His coverage includes regulation and the latest pensions and investments trends, and, being a native Italian, he also covers Italy’s pensions market. He has reported from Italy and Germany on international politics and business for European and US publications including USA Today, Bloomberg BNA and for the investigative magazine L’Espresso. He was previously Germany correspondent for Mergermarket covering M&A.View full Profile

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