Today in Bucharest, Aviva will continue its national roadshow, the aim of which is to complete the three-month training course, delivered in three stages, for the 30,000 qualified marketing agents the company has recruited for pensions Pillar II.
Today in Bucharest, Aviva will continue its national roadshow, the aim of which is to complete the three-month training course, delivered in three stages, for the 30,000 qualified marketing agents the company has recruited for pensions Pillar II.
- Stage I of this training module consisted of CSSPP-approved basic training, in conjunction with a compulsory exam.
- Stage II took the form of full-time instruction supported by the Marketing Agency Guide, an original sales resource developed by Aviva, but also included on-line training.
- Stage III consists of participation in a series of regional seminars.
The management of the company proposed organising this in-country tour to be alongside the 30,000 marketing agents before 17 September 2007, the date on which the campaign to gather application forms for mandatory private pension schemes is officially launched. Toni Grecu will host the seminars organised by Aviva.
The stakes for this campaign are extremely high. In practical terms, in this timeframe, 2% of the national insurance contributions of over 3 million employees will be redirected into their individual accounts, administered by companies authorised as administrators of mandatory private pension funds.
Over 2000 people have been invited to Bucharest for the event organised by the British insurance company, the third in a series of 12. During the seminar, debates will be held over the opportunities provided by the Romanian Pensions Reform and the exact role of the sales team, in terms of being marketing agents, promoting these opportunities over the four-year period in which the application forms will be collected.
Shah Rouf, director general, Corina Cucoli, director of bancassurance and partnerships, Marius Mocanu, director of sales, and managers and financial advisers from the central headquarters and agencies in Bucharest will take part in the event.
"Aviva has important targets as far as the Romanian market is concerned, a fact which has also been demonstrated by the significant investment of 100 million euros which the Group has made in its pensions company. The Pensions Reform represents an opportunity for us to provide Romanians with the international experience our group has accumulated over time. We want Romanians to benefit from the advice offered by the best financial experts and to look upon Aviva as the provider of their financial security. Their satisfaction will be the guarantee of our success," stated Shah Rouf, director general of the Aviva Romania.
Starting on 17 September, those aged 35 and under who pay into the public pensions scheme will have to choose a privately administered pension fund. They will have four months in which to make this choice, after which those employees who have not chosen a pension fund into which to make payments will be allocated one on a random basis by the Oversight Committee for the System of Private Pensions. Participation in a privately administered pension fund is compulsory for those aged 35 and under and voluntary for wage earners aged between 36 and 45.
The important thing to stress is the fact that participants in the scheme pay no additional cost to have a larger pension in the future than they could have received from the state. All that they have to do is choose a private pension fund.
"The Pensions Reform is an important step for Romania. We are extremely pleased to be able to be actively involved in this project, helping Romanians to decide their financial future in retirement. Pillar II is an opportunity. Its success will, however, depend to a large extent on what understanding the Romanians have of the fact that they must opt for a private pension fund by 17th January 2008, because this is compulsory, but the choice itself is 100% theirs!" added Shah Rouf.
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For further information:
Giliola Ignat
Marketing Manager - Advertising & PR
Telephone: 0723 310 378
E-mail: giliola.ignat@aviva.ro
Notes for editors:
About Aviva
Aviva Life Insurance SA and Aviva Administration Company for a Private Pension Fund SA are part of the Aviva group, the largest insurance company in Great Britain and one of the most powerful financial groups in the world. The Aviva group is the market leader for pensions and life insurance schemes in Europe, occupying leading positions on most of the markets in which it operates. The group administers 535 billion euros' worth of assets, representing the money of over 40 million clients worldwide. In Romania, Aviva has over 430,000 clients, and agencies and development centres in 23 towns and cities.
Aviva is one of the first three companies, on the list of those which have signed up for the tender for pillar II, to have received authorisation from the CSSPP for its SC Aviva Administration Company for a Private Pension Fund SA company and for its private pension fund Pensia Viva.
About Pensia Viva (according to the Prospectus for the "Pensia Viva" private pension scheme)
The investment policy of the Pensia Viva Product fund administered by Aviva consists of a mixture of prudent and balanced investments.
By means of the investment policy, the Pensia Viva privately administered pension fund sets the following limits on the structure of assets, depending on availability on the market of the assets in question, whilst not exceeding the maximum levels set in law:
| Type of financial product | Minimum allowed in the fund | Balance Structure | Maximum allowed in the fund |
| - bonds and other transferable securities of foreign non-governmental organisations, if these products are listed on authorised stock exchanges and meet rating requirements¹ | 0% | 4% | 5% |
| - state deeds issued by the Romanian Public Finance Ministry, issued by EU member states or those belonging to the European Economic Area | 45% | 55% | 70% |
| - state deeds and other transferable securities issued by third-party states² | 0% | 11% | 15% |
| Type of financial product | Minimum allowed in the fund | Balance structure | Maximum allowed in the fund |
| - transferable securities traded on regulated and supervised markets in EU member states, including Romania, or those belonging to the European Economic Area; | 10% | 30% | 35% |
| - products on money markets including accounts and deposits in lei at a bank, with a Romanian legal representative, or at a branch of a foreign credit institution authorised to operate on Romanian territory; | 0% | 10%³ | |
| - bonds and other transferable securities, issued by local public administration authorities in Romania or EU member states or those belonging to the European Economic Area | 0% | 10% | |
| - bonds and other transferable securities, traded on regulated and supervised markets, issued by local public administration authorities in third-party states | 0% | 10% | |
| - deeds of participation issued by collective placement organisations in transferable securities in Romania or in other countries | 0% | 5% |
The fees charged for the administration and management of the investment are amongst the lowest in the area of private pensions.
Aviva charges a commission of 2.5% from each contribution before turning this into units in the fund. In 2008, Aviva will not levy any administration fee against participants' assets. From 2009 the monthly administration cost levied against the participants' assets will be 0.05% per month. These are amongst the lowest fund administration fees in the world.