Romania: Personal events that influence the spending habits of Romanians

According to the results of a market study, Romanians are not used to putting money aside for savings.

According to the results of a market study, Romanians are not used to putting money aside for savings. The study was carried out at the request of Aviva plc by GFK Romania, with support from Henley Centre Headlight Vision, in over 20 countries spanning four continents.

Consequently, only 5% of Romanians save a greater or lesser portion of their income on a regular basis, whereas 50% do not even think about saving.

The main aim of this market research, carried out during the course of the previous year, was to determine the attitude of respondents towards long-term saving. Aviva aims to come in line with its customers' wishes by constantly improving its products and financial services, and the results provided by this study are a good contribution to this objective.

Another important aspect highlighted by this market research is the fact that a large percentage of the population do think about tomorrow but, for the moment, cannot do anything to improve their financial situation, primarily because of changes to their personal circumstances (loss of job, divorce).

"Until the 17th of January, Romanians have a unique opportunity to save towards their pensions without any additional cost. Contributions to private pensions represent a re-directing of 2% of the taxes that Romanians pay already, as a contribution to the social security system. Decisions that we take as young people will determine our financial future as we grow older. By choosing Pensia Viva, Romanians are able to benefit from an additional income as they become pensioners whilst, at the same time, having the experience and know-how of professionals to efficiently manage their money," stated Shah Rouf, CEO of Aviva Romania.

-ends-

For additional information: 
Giliola Ignat - Marketing Manager / Advertising and PR
Telephone: 203 83 76  
E-mail: giliola.ignat@aviva.ro

Notes for editors:
No result from the Aviva study may be reproduced without quoting the source: Aviva Life Insurance

The Consumer Attitudes to Savings study was commissioned by Aviva plc from GFK Romania, with support from Henley Centre Headlight Vision. 11 countries were included in 2004, 16 countries in 2005, and 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, Holland, France and Germany.

About the Aviva group
Aviva is the oldest insurance group in the world and the biggest in Great Britain, with a history dating to 1696. Today, Aviva has 59,000 employees and 40 million customers in 27 countries across the world.

Aviva is one of the European leaders in financial services. Aviva has income from insurance premiums and investments totalling 61 billion euros and manages funds worth over 535 billion euros.

Aviva Romania
Aviva Romania includes three companies: Aviva Life Insurance, Aviva Administration Company for a Private Pension Fund and Certinvest (acquired on 13 of September 2007).

Aviva started its life insurance activity in Romania in 2000 and currently has agents and development centres in 22 towns and a portfolio of over 430,000 customers.

On 26th of July, 2007, Aviva received approval from the Supervisory Commission for the Private Pension System to set up a company to administer private pensions (Aviva Administration Company for a Private Pension Fund SA) and on 25th of August, authorisation to manage its mandatory pension fund - Pensia Viva. Currently, Aviva is one of the main players in the Pillar II recruitment campaign.

Certinvest
Certinvest currently manages 24 million euros in 4 mutual funds, each of which is geared towards a different type of investment: Intercapital - a share fund, Capital Plus - a balanced fund, Orizont - a fixed-income (bonds) fund and Tezaur - a capital market fund. Certinvest also manages individual investment accounts for higher income individuals.

Related news