In the context of a large-scale pension reform being implemented, the issue of choosing an NPF has acquired particular urgency. After all, the size of the future pension largely depends on this.
Non-state Pension Fund (NPF) is a non-profit organization that manages funds without access to citizens' accounts. Funds are engaged in investing money - they invest money in stocks, bonds and other securities.
NPF advantages
More and more people choose NPFs as managers of the funded part of their pension. In total, more than 24 million Russians under 1967 spoke out in favor of transferring the funded part to NPFs by 2013.
In 2013, the number of agreements on the transfer of NPF funds increased to 12.7 million, which is almost twice as high as in 2012 of 6.9 million.
The pensions of the rest of the citizens (who are called “silent” in the FIU) by default remained in the investment portfolio of the state-owned Vnesheconombank.
The reasons why citizens give their choice to NPF are associated with a number of competitive advantages in relation to the state management company:
- preservation of the funded part of the pension (6%): if it is not transferred to the management of the NPF, then, according to the new rules, it is “zeroed” and all pension contributions will go to payments to current pensioners;
- higher profitability from investment of the funded part of the pension, which is demonstrated by NPFs; accordingly, this affects the size of the future pension;
- the ability to bequeath your pension savings to any person (this rule applies only to the funded part of the pension and does not apply to the insurance part);
- the level of service offered by the NPF (access to the online cabinet, where you can always see the state of the personal account);
- a guarantee of the safety of deposits.
Next year, each NPF must pass an audit by the Central Bank and carry out a corporatization procedure, which should help to improve the reliability of the funds.
What are the criteria for choosing an NPF
The list of key criteria for choosing an NPF includes:
1. The term of the fund on the market. This indicator reflects the company's ability to effectively manage funds in various economic conditions. Including in a crisis and unstable situation on the market.
2. The amount of funds managed by NPFs and the amount of own assets. So, today the largest NPFs in terms of assets include Lukoil, Blagosostoyanie, Sberbank, NPF Elektroenergetics and VTB.
3. The total accumulated profitability of the fund for several years. It is better to take this indicator as a basis, and not the dynamics over the past year. The latter may show significant deviations. It is worth comparing the performance of NPFs with each other and with those of the state-owned Vnesheconombank.
4. Reliability. The reliability of the funds can be assessed on the basis of the rating, which is compiled annually by RA Expert. Each NPF is assigned a reliability class in it; it is worth choosing companies with an A ++ rating ("the highest").
