10% of the clients for the voluntary pension Pensia Mea offered by Aviva are professors, teachers and other categories of teaching staff, and so, especially for them, Aviva has adapted the product so that the first major tranche of initial contributions into the Pensia Mea private pension takes place in October.
10% of the clients for the voluntary pension Pensia Mea offered by Aviva are professors, teachers and other categories of teaching staff, and so, especially for them, Aviva has adapted the product so that the first major tranche of initial contributions into the Pensia Mea private pension takes place in October.
An Aviva study carried out in Romania in June 2007 indicated that:
- 55% of parents teach their children about the value of money
- 92% of children are taught from a very young age to save (30% of parents teach this to their children aged between 9 and 12, while 20% of parents teach them even earlier, starting at the age of five to eight years).
But simply talking about saving is not enough; despite this, the majority of parents only do this, because only 12% of those interviewed have a savings account, a life insurance policy or a pension. The study shows that parents educate but don't take any action as a consequence.
Therefore, it is an encouraging fact that those who educate our children not only talk about pensions but even provide a positive role model in this regard. Teachers are well informed of the facts, with a significant percentage of them opting for a voluntary private pension as their means of saving for retirement. A large number of them have opted for the voluntary pension offered by Aviva, the European leader in life insurance and pensions and the oldest insurance company in the world.
An analysis of three months of sales of voluntary pensions carried out by Aviva has indicated that 10% of clients work in education.
"We are delighted that teachers are choosing an Aviva pension, and to this end we have endeavoured to adapt our services so that the product meets their specific needs in the best way possible. For the summer holidays, teachers are paid one cumulative salary at the start of the period, and then they don't receive their next salary until October. This has an effect on the ratio of contributions currently, because approximately 300 clients who have already opted for Aviva voluntary pensions cannot be sent to the CSSPP as payers as the first payment has already been missed. We have revised the processes so as to postpone the collection of contributions until October and so as, in this way to encourage professors, teachers and other employees in the education sector to benefit from an Aviva pension," said Shah Rouf, CEO Aviva Group Romania.
A more detailed analysis of the portfolio of clients in the first three months of activity for voluntary pensions indicates that:
- 65% of contributions are made exclusively by employers. This demonstrates that many employers benefit from the fact that pensions are tax-deductible, offering to employees an additional benefit over and above their salary in the form of a voluntary pension.
- 28% of Aviva clients pay their contributions directly into voluntary pensions without the help of their employers, also benefiting from the advantages offered by tax-deductibility of 16% of the value of the contributions, capped at 200 euros per year.
- 7% of contributions are made jointly by employees and employers.
Shah Rouf concluded: "Over 2000 people have already chosen Aviva as their voluntary pensions provider. Some have already sent their initial contributions, but there is still a number who, although they have signed the contract, have not yet made payments. Our private pensions portfolio, Pensia Mea, entails a payment of only 60 RON per month, 5% of the average gross salary and a realistic amount for the majority of Romanians.
"Clients of Aviva voluntary pensions benefit from our regional and global experience, in the form of Pensia Mea, a product which has been adapted locally in order to obtain the maximum benefit allowed in Romanian law. Pensia Mea is the only pensions product in Romania which, even for the minimum contribution, offers maximum tax-deductibility, capped at 200 euros per year. Those who opt for this product in 2007 obtain immediate tax-deductibility because they also enjoy this benefit for the current year.
"In addition, these people will also benefit from a greater period of accumulation up to retirement age. Each month of delay costs money. I am absolutely delighted that so many people have realised that it is a good thing to save for their retirement as soon as possible, and the fact that they have chosen Aviva for this is a real vote of confidence for us."
-ends-
For further information:
Giliola Ignat
Telephone: 203 83 73
E-mail: giliola.ignat@aviva.ro
Note for editors:
About Aviva
Aviva Life Insurance is part of the Aviva group, the largest provider of insurance in Great Britain and one of the first life insurance companies to have received authorisation for its voluntary pension fund "Pensia Mea" from the Oversight Committee for the System of Private Pensions (CSSPP) and more recently for the mandatory private pension fund, "Pensia Viva".
The Aviva group is one of the market leaders for pensions and life insurance in Europe, occupying leading positions on the majority of markets in which it operates; recently the pension fund administered by Aviva Poland was named as the highest performing in Central and Eastern Europe.
The group administers €535 billion worth of assets*, representing the money of over 40 million clients worldwide.
In Romania, Aviva has over 430,000 clients and a presence in 19 towns and cities.
* As at 31st December 2006.