February 2021 Monthly Report
Overview of supervised entities’ activities in the financial services sector, February 2021:
PENSION FUNDS
SECOND PILLAR PENSION FUNDS
In February 2021, mandatory pension funds had 2,063,482 members, 0.1% more than in the previous month. Out of 3,322 new members, 3,111 (93.7%) were assigned by Regos. On the other hand, termination of membership due to retirement or death was recorded with respect to 867 members. Total net contributions paid to mandatory pension funds in February amounted to HRK 593.0m, increasing by 4.2% in comparison with February 2020. At the same time, total payments from all the mandatory pension funds due to personal account closures reached HRK 111.6m, rising by 12.8% compared to February 2020.
Mandatory pension funds’ net assets amounted to HRK 121.4bn, increasing by 0.9% relative to the previous month. Monthly Mirex index returns reached 0.97% for category A, 0.59% for category B and -0.06% for category C. Its annual returns remained positive, ranging from 1.1% to 5.1%. Annualised Mirex index returns since the beginning of mandatory pension funds’ operation have reached 7.1% for Mirex A, 5.4% for Mirex B and 5.0% for Mirex C. At the end of January, bonds dominated the mandatory pension funds’ investment structure with a 68.3% share, while investments in shares accounted for 18.9% of the investments. As regards other investment types, the most common were investments in investment funds, making up a 9.5% share.
THIRD PILLAR PENSION FUNDS
The number of members of all eight open-ended voluntary pension funds increased in February 2021 by 0.5% on a monthly basis, totalling 334,178 at the end of the month. Total monthly payments made to open-ended voluntary pension funds amounted to HRK 50.5m, declining by 9.3% in comparison with February 2020. At the same time, total monthly payments made from these funds increased by 21.9% on an annual basis, amounting to HRK 28.1m. The number of members of 20 closed-ended voluntary pension funds dropped by 0.04% on a monthly basis, totalling 44,761 at the end of the month. Total monthly payments made to these funds decreased, too, by 3.4% on an annual basis, amounting to HRK 6.1m, whereas total monthly payments made from them stood at HRK 4.2m, rising by 7.4% on an annual basis.
Open-ended voluntary pension funds’ net assets grew by 0.9% on a monthly basis, reaching HRK 5.7bn, with monthly returns ranging between -0.4% and 1.1%. The range of annual returns was slightly broader, with returns of some funds reaching negative levels (between -0.1% and 4.5%). An increase in net assets on a monthly level was recorded by closed-ended voluntary pension funds, as well, (by 0.4%), with their assets totalling HRK 1.21bn at the end of the month. Their monthly returns ranged from -0.5% to 1.3%, and their annual returns between 0.2% and 4.8%. Voluntary pension funds’ investment structure is similar to that of mandatory pension funds, with a slightly higher share of equity investments. The largest part of the portfolio is made up by bonds (59.9%) followed by shares with 25% and investment funds with 11.1%.
INSURANCE COMPANIES
In February 2021, there were 15 insurance companies operating on the market. Their total gross written premium reached HRK 2.1bn, rising by 5.7% relative to February 2020. The gross amount of their claims settled totalled HRK 1.1bn, increasing by 11.3% on an annual basis.
CAPITAL MARKET
In February 2021, total turnover on the Zagreb Stock Exchange reached HRK 199.5m, increasing by 19.5% compared with to the previous month, primarily due to more block trades in shares. At the same time, the order book turnover recorded a 6.2% monthly growth, even though bond trading decreased by 39.8%. Market capitalisation rose by 1.4% on a monthly basis, reaching HRK 276.2bn at the end of February. All indices apart from CROBIS recorded a positive monthly growth, with CROBEXkonstrukt recording the sharpest (17.9%) rise. Valamar Riviera stock remained most traded, with its turnover amounting to HRK 15.8m, and a monthly increase in price totalling 3.4%. The OTC market turnover recorded a monthly growth of 2.3%.
INVESTMENT FUNDS
In February 2021, there were 95 UCITS operating on the market (3 UCITS are undergoing winding up-proceedings). This is one less fund than in January, because there was a merger of one fund with another. Total net assets of UCITS amounted to HRK 18.9bn at the end of February, growing by 2.0% on a monthly basis. Bond funds’ assets accounted for a 76.9% share in total assets of UCITS.
In February 2021, average annual returns of all UCITS categories (except bond funds) weighted by assets were positive, with the highest weighted average return (1.3%) having been recorded by equity UCITS, and the lowest average monthly return (-0.6%) by bond funds. In all UCITS categories, total payments to the funds exceeded those made from the funds (the total value of net payments to the funds recorded by all UCITS amounted to HRK 402.8m).
Net assets of the Fund for Croatian Homeland War Veterans and Members of their Families amounted to HRK 962.4m.
The full report is available at Publications/Monthly reports
