Romania: On a global scale, the population is not financially prepared for retirement

• 60% of adults who only have a short time left until retirement are worried about the fact that they have not saved enough for it
• 48% of pensioners worldwide wish that they had done something during their working lives to have peace of mind in retirement
• 61% of Romanians believe that they will have to work even after retirement in order to make ends meet
• 62% of Romanians believe that they will not be able to live on the state pension alone
• Only one in 10 Romanians currently have a pension plan, compared with one in four eastern Europeans and one in two west Europeans^1.

On a global scale, six out of 10 people who only have a short time left until retirement are poorly prepared for the financial rigours of retirement, a fact that leads us to think that there is a global crisis as regards the elderly population, according to a report by Aviva, the number one provider of life insurance policies and pensions in Europe¹. The title of this report is the "Consumer Attitudes to Savings Survey 2006".

The annual study, in which 80,000 people from 24 countries, including Romania, were interviewed over a period of four years, conducted by Henley Centre Headlight Vision and GfK, revealed that 48% of pensioners regret not having done more to be able to support themselves financially during retirement, and more than half of those approaching retirement age expect to have to continue working even during retirement in order to get by.

Richard Harvey, executive director of the Aviva group, comments: "The study carried out demonstrates that pensions are not only a local problem, but a worldwide area of interest. In general terms, people from across the world who only have a short time left until retirement seem to have taken for granted and accepted the fact that the term ‘retirement age' is no longer specific to any particular age and is becoming more and more ambiguous."

Sian Davies, executive director of Henley Centre Headlight Vision, comments: "Based on this worldwide survey, there is a need for consumers to redress the balance between the age at which they expect to retire from work and their ability to cover fully their financial needs during retirement."

With this in mind, Aviva Life Insurance will shortly be launching a private pensions product to assist Romanians in saving for retirement efficiently. The Aviva Life Insurance company has already started proceedings for authorisation as an administrator of voluntary pension funds - known as Pillar III - making Aviva one of the first life insurance companies to have submitted the required documentation to the Oversight Committee for the System of Private Pensions (CSSPP).

Aviva is launching this new product in tandem with a new financial advice and planning service - LifePlan 123. The service is free of charge and was set up to help Romanians to make documented financial decisions relating to their future.

Shah Rouf, CEO of Aviva Life Insurance, stated: "35% of Romanians have stated that they don't know where to go to obtain a recommendation about planning for their retirement. This is unacceptable, and we therefore want everyone to avail themselves of financial services with confidence.  Financial decisions can sometimes be difficult because of the specialist jargon which is not always accessible. This scares people who refuse to find out more or to buy something which, for all they know, might not best meet their needs. What happens most often is that people just want to discuss their financial options and not buy anything. The service launched by Aviva, LifePlan 123, offers them this opportunity.

"45% of Romanians have told us that they want to discuss things with someone who understands their needs. We believe that there is a gap in the market both in the provision of this type of advice and in trust in the financial services industry, because of the traditionally difficult methods of dealing with sales by the financial services market. We also believe that this is one of the main reasons for Romanians not being prepared for retirement: the lack of access to financial services offering professional planning. We are delighted to offer LifePlan 123 free of charge and to be able to play a key role in Romanians' financial planning."

Failure to plan
At the present time, eastern Europeans are the least inclined to plan for their retirement. Traditionally they expect that the state to offer them financial resources for their period of retirement. In the Romanians' case, the average state pension is currently only 289 RON per month, a fact which makes the situation of the elderly even more acute (in comparison, the average net salary is 828 RON, almost three times as much). It is a fact that retirement does not imply any reduction in expenditure - this remains all but constant.

Shah Rouf concludes: "planning for retirement is a global problem, which is crying out for a solution. We are in a situation in which lack of action leads to anxiety, at a time when it should lead to action, speaking constructively.

"The ageing population and the decline in the number of those in paid employment put pressure on state pension schemes. If people do not make a combined effort to exercise control over their retirement through efficient planning, we will end up with an ever greater number of people who are struggling to maintain an adequate standard of living during retirement.

"Aviva is offering LifePlan 123, amongst others, to those who have only a short time left until retirement, helping them to make a plan in order to enhance their financial situation for this period of their lives."

Those who would like to benefit from a free financial assessment are invited to register using the form available on our website http://www.aviva.ro/.

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For further information:
Giliola Ignat 
Marketing Manager/Advertising & PR 
Telephone: 203 83 73

Note for editors

¹ The survey "Consumer Attitudes to Savings - 2006" was carried out by Henley Centre Headlight Vision in the first semester of 2006 commissioned by Aviva plc. Henley Centre Headlight Vision provides information, consultancy and research solutions to clients worldwide. HCHLV has representatives across the world, with offices operating in London, New York, Mumbai and Delhi and representation in 28 countries. GfK Romania dealt with the study on the Romanian market.

• None of the findings of the Aviva study may be reproduced without acknowledging the source: Aviva Life Insurance.
• The Aviva group is the largest provider of private pensions and life insurance policies in Europe, and is the leader on the majority of markets in which it operates.
• The main activities of the Aviva group are long-term savings plans, the administration of funds and general insurance policies with total global sales of £36 billion and the administration of £322 billion worth of assets - as at 31 December 2005.
• The survey Consumer Attitudes to Savings was carried out in 2004 in 11 countries, in 2005 in 16 countries and in 21 countries in 2006.  2006 was the first year in which Romania was included in the study.  The other 20 countries were: Hong Kong, Spain, Taiwan, China, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, USA, Singapore, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Germany.
• Aviva the number one in Europe - statistics generated by annual reports published by companies confirm the fact that Aviva is the largest provider of pensions and life insurance policies in Europe (as at 31 December 2006).

According to reports published by companies in the first quarter of 2007 - results in terms of new sales. APE represents the companies' standard measure for volume of business generated in 100% regulated premiums and 10% single premiums.  The average exchange rate for December was used for the equivalents in euros for pounds sterling and dollars.

L&G, Fortis and Aegon reported results obtained from smaller operations, integrated into the framework  of international results, so a prudent margin of 50% has been used, which is probably advantageous to European operations in general, but this has no effect on the market position given above.