The Pensions-Sicherungs-Verein VVaG (PSVaG), the mutual insurance association for German occupational pension schemes, has set the contribution rate for members at 1.8‰ (promille) this year, up from 0.6‰ last year.

Moreover, members this year have to pay an additional contribution amounting to 1.5‰ (promille) for pension promises made through Pensionskassen that will be paid to the equalisation fund, it added.

The equalisation fund last year had total assets of €3.3bn, according to PSVaG’s financial statement for 2021.

The PSVaG – which intervenes in cases of employer insolvency to pay occupational pensions – has calculated that the total volume of contributions of member companies this year is close to €653m, up from €217m last year, as a result of the increasing contribution rate, and the amount to disclose in order to calculate the contribution to pay in a calendar year.

The amount disclosed by member companies this year to calculate contributions is €373bn, up from €368bn in 2021, and €354bn in 2020, according to PSVaG’s financial statement.

The association expected this year to set a contribution rate above last year’s level but below what it has calculated being the long-term average contributions of 2.7‰ (promille) due to volatile capital markets and reserves to refund contributions, it said.

The number of claims covered by the PSVaG, and the associated capital volume in terms of claims, were roughly at the previous year’s level in June, it added.

In 2020 the lifeboat scheme set the contribution rate for members at 4.2‰ (promille), the highest level since 2009, compared with 3.1‰ (promille) in 2019.

Last year, members paid in total €242m in contributions to the PSVaG, which recorded a 46% decrease year-on-year in terms of insolvencies to 282, from 523 recorded in 2020, and total damages of €725m, a 54% decrease from €1.59bn paid in 2020, according to the financial statement for 2021.

The PSVaG has provided pension benefits to 26,600 employees entitled to company pensions and retirees last year, and in 14,200 cases increased the amount of benefits. Benefits were directly paid by the lifeboat scheme to 31,200 beneficiaries in 2021, according to the financial statement.

Returns on investments fell year-on-year by 27% in 2021 to €57m, from €78m in 2020. The PSVaG has close to101,200 members.

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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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