Private Pensions (Pillar III)

Bucharest2013

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Table of Contents

1. Demographic development in Romania..............................................................................2

2. Description of the pension landscape..................................................................................2

3. The voluntary pension funds – PILLAR III.......................................................................53.1. System design………………………………………………………………………..53.2. Members......................................................................................................................63.3 Investment structure......................................................................................................83.4 Rate of return................................................................................................................8

4. Impact of the economic financial crisis.............................................................................10

5. Current political trends and trade union observations...................................................10

6. Comparison between two offers available on the Romanian market...................................11

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1. Demographic development in Romania Couple of statistic data given by The National Institute of Statistics, The World Bank andThe United Nation Fund regarding the population shows that:1

the total population of Romania has dropped in between 1990 – 2010 with some 1,8 millions of inhabitants from 23.2 to 21.4 millions;

until 2050, the population of Romania will continue to drop at the total average of 16-17 millions inhabitants, with 6-7 millions less than 1990 (studies revealed by the European Union, World Bank, United Nations);

the most pessimist scenario shows a dramatic fall in the Romanian population of 13,3 millions of inhabitants until 2050 (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development study published in 2008);

the average life expectation in Romania has grown from 70 years in 1990 to 74 years in 2008 and is continuing to grow.

As a preliminary conclusion, the population decreases in number and this tendency seems irreversible. This phenomenon implies the phenomenon of ageing who itself is accelerating. This demographic event took place in less than 20 years.

2. Description of the pension landscapeIn Romania, warranting reasonable pensions is the target of the local pension schemes and is strongly linked to the principle of fundamental solidarity between generations and among the same generations.

The drop and the ageing of population are huge pressures on the public pension fund budget, which must support with less and less contributors (employees and other tax contributors) a growing number of beneficiaries (pensioners from the public and private sectors). While in 1990, 8.2 million employees contributing to the public pension schemes sustained 2.5 million pensioners, in 2008, 4.9 million employees contributing to the public pension schemes sustained 4.7 million pensioners. One employee is contributing for the pension of 1.04 persons. This is dramatic in comparison with other countries. The number of pensioners has increased at the beginning of 2011 to about 5,495,000 with an average pension of 682 lei/month (about 150 euro/month).2

In Romania, the last years reforms of the pensions schemes (pillars I+II+III) had contributed only partially to limiting the fall of public pensions. The Government took extremely unpopular measures, such as diminishing the pensions, recalculating the pensions and recomposing the pension files.

The demographic problems in Romania show that the public pension schemes system is no longer sustainable in the current state and it needs deep reform to avoid a collapse in the medium and long term future.

1 The National Institute of Statistics2 European Commission - The 2012 Ageing Report Economic and budgetary projections for the 27 EU Member States (2010-2060), pg. 45

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That is why the Romanian Government has introduced in 2007 the three-pillar system of pension schemes, upon a tested and recommended model of The World Bank. The three-pillar pension schemes system is composed as follow:3

Pillar I - compulsory (public pension administrated by the state) it is a public pension scheme; it is based on solidarity among generations; it is based as a „pay as you go” system; the pension level is predefined.

Pillar II - compulsory (public pension privately administrated) it is a public pension scheme, privately administrated; the pension level is predefined; compulsory for persons non reaching 35 years and optional for persons of 35 – 45

years; the minimum warranted pension level (the total amount of contribution minus legal

allowances).

Pillar III - optional (private pension) privately administrated; predefined contributions; optional participation; individual accounts.

A. Pillar I - public pension schemeThe public pension scheme is functioning upon the PAYG principle (pay as you go). The state is collecting the social contribution for pensions from the contributors and pays immediately the pension to the actual pensioners. The statistical data shows that this redistributive logic cannot longer function, namely in the poor conditions of the actual situation and the forecasted demographic development and employment.4

a) Pension for standard age limitUntil 2000, the standard age for pensioning was 57 years for women and 62 years for men. In between 2000 – 2010 the age limit has been gradually pushed at 59 years for women and 62 years for men. Starting with the 1st of January 2011, the standard age for pensioning is 63 years for women and 65 years for men. These levels will be gradually reached as follow:

between January 2011 and January 2015, the standard age for pensioning of women will grow from 59 years to 60 years and that of the men will grow from 62 years to 65 years;

at the end of this period will be a gradually grow of the pension limit only for women from 60 years to 63 years until 2030.

In the last years and at the moment, the vast majority of employees, especially the women, leave the labour market long before the normal age of pensioning.

In the meantime, the number of years of contributions required will grow from 13 to 15 years, for women as well as for men. That minimum stage will be realized gradually in between 3 Pension reform in Romania - http://www.apapr.ro/english/reforma.html4 Center of Excellence in Finance - The Pension System in Romania, pg.4

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January 2011 and January 2015. On the other hand, the complete indemnity stage will reach 35 years for women as well as for men.

b) Pre-pensioningAccording to Law no 263/2010 regarding the public pension schemes, valid since 1.01.2011, pre-pensioning is possible in maximum 5 years prior the standard age of pensioning. This only applies to workers with 8 or more contribution years on the time required by law. Pre-pensioning is not taking into consideration the following stages: the compulsory military stage, the university stage, pensioning by disability, the military school. Those stages will be valid when passing at the standard age pension limit. There are fixed penalties applied to the total pension for the anticipated pensioning, which are valid until the standard age limit is reached.

c) Partial pre-pensioningPartial pre-pensioning is possible in maximum 5 years prior the standard age of pensioning. This only applies to workers with less than 8 contribution years on the time required by law. There is only one exception of partial pre-pensioning without penalty: for those persons who were residents at least 30 years in extremely poluted areas of copper, lead, sulphur, cadmium, arsenic, zinc, manganese, fluorine, chlorine (as they were before 1990 the urban areas of Baia Mare, Copşa Mică and Zlatna), in a range of 8 km around those towns. In these particular cases, the applicant of partial pre-pension may benefit of two years reduction of standard age limit pension without any penalties.

d) Disability pensionDisability pension is given to persons who lost total or partial at least half of their work capacity, because of work accidents and professional sickness, schizophrenia, AIDS and so on, as well as normal sickness and accidents unlinked to the work places.The pensioners in the first degree of invalidity (total loss of capacity of work and capacity of self-care) have the right, apart from the pension, to an indemnity for a companion as a fix revenue representing 80% from the value of one pension point.

e) Pension for survivorsPension for survivors is given to the orphans or to the surviving spouse if the deceased was a pensioner or in a position to get a pension. Orphans have the right to a successor pension until the age of 16 or if they are continuing studying in a legal form of assignment but not overlapping the age of 26 years or during invalidity (disability) of any degree got in the period mentioned above.

The surviving spouse has the right to a successor pension when reaching the standard age limit for pension if they were married for at least 15 years. If the length of marriage is in between 10 to 15 years, the pension of the survivor spouse is diminishing with 0.5% for each month, or with 6% for each year till 15 as a penalty.

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B. Pillar II – compulsory pensions privately administratedThis pension scheme is compulsory for those up to 35 years old who are already participating to the first pillar and are contributing to that system. It is optional for all those from 35 to 45 years who are already participating to the first pillar and are contributing to that system.5

When signing the application form, the subjects are informed about the pension scheme, especially about rights and obligations of the two parties, financial risks, technical risks or any other risk, as well as regarding the type and the distribution of those risks.

The person who does not apply for a pension fund in a period of four months from the moment he/she was obliged to do it by law, he/she will be automatically linked to a fund by the legal authority who is keeping the register of the pensioners in the public scheme of pensions.

The basis for the calculation and terms of payments of the contribution are the same with those for the first pillar. In 2008, when starting collecting the money into this fund, the contribution quota was 2% from the basis for the calculation. Up to 2016, the contribution quota will rise to 6% (0.5% per year) starting with the 1st of January of each year. For example, in 2011 the contribution quota for the second pillar was 3.5%.

For the second pillar, the majority of subscribers are from the industries, commerce and construction. For example, 8% from the total number of subscribers for the second pillar, namely 416,000 persons work in the construction sector.

C. Pillar III - optional private pensionsThe third pillar started in June 2007. The amount of contribution to those funds is fiscally deductible for each subscriber from its gross monthly wage or any other assimilated revenue if the total amount is not overlapping the equivalent in lei of 400 euro in a fiscal year. The same situation is occurring for the employer side. The investments of the funds assets from the third pillar are tax-free until the moment of payments toward subscribers. At the moment, 221,600 Romanians chose the third pillar pension scheme, 10% coming from the industry sector.

3. The voluntary pension funds – PILLAR III

3.1. System design6

Romania’s voluntary private pensions system (3rd pillar) is based on World Bank’s multi-pillar model. It is a fully funded system, based on personal accounts and on the defined contribution (DC) philosophy. The system has been put into place in 2007, when it became voluntary for all persons earning any type of income. The system is not occupational.

Participation is open to everybody earning income - from employees to the self-employed, those with independent activities of liberal professions. Contribution collection is made by the employers, which have to direct the contributions of participants (only in the case of

5 Op. cit., pg. 56 Asociatia pentru Pensiile Administrate Privat din Romania (APAPR) - http://www.apapr.ro/english/legislatie.html

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employees) towards the voluntary pension funds. In all the other cases (self-employed, etc.), the participant can direct his own contributions.

Voluntary pension funds are managed by pension management companies (administrators), life insurance companies of asset management companies. However, there is only one type of product - 3rd pillar voluntary pension fund - regardless of the nature of the pension management entity. Each pension / life insurance / asset management company can manage as many funds as they wish. The pension fund is unitized and functions similar to an investment fund. To enter and function within this market, any pension / life insurance / asset management company must get several licenses from CSSPP (Romania’s pensions market regulatory and supervisory body).

A participant to such a fund contributes during his active life and will get a pension after 60. The contribution is limited to 15% of the participant’s total gross revenues. The contribution level is flexible - it can be decided upon, changed, and even interrupted and resumed. Pension companies are not allowed to make simulations or estimate the future pension’s level. Payout phase legislation was adopted in 2009.

Participants can switch funds (transfer) at any time, but they have to pay an up to 5% penalty fee of their net assets if they transfer within the first 2 years after joining a fund. The fund’s operating expenses are supported by the fund itself, not by the pension company, like in the mandatory system.

3.2. MembersIn 2011, 38.792 persons chose to become members of one of the voluntary pension funds, representing an increase by 17.51% of the number of members as compared to the previous year. Thus, 260,379 members were registered in the system at the end of 2011. The months that brought the highest number of members were April, with 4,356 new members and December, with 4,399 new members.7

The gender distribution of the members indicates a relatively equal division between women and men, the ratio being 50.65% to 49.35% (50.58% to 49.42% in 2010). The age distribution shows that the ratio between the members under 35 and those over 35 is of 25.78% to 74.22% (27.46% to 72.54% in 2010). The majority of the members are in the 40-44 years old age group, representing 21.90% from total members.8

In December 2012, the net assets value reached 598.92 million RON (135.24 million EUR), recording a growth of 37.48% as compared with December 2011 and of 16.93% as compared with June 2011 (34.09% and, respectively, 17.47% reported to the EUR). In comparison with the last month, the growth was of 3.16%. As in the case of Pillar II, the monthly growths reached a maximum in January (4.46%) and a minimum in May (1.10%). 9

The number of the voluntary pension funds members on December 31, 2012 was 292,146, with 12.20% more than in December last year and 5.58% more than in June 2012. As compared with last month, the growth was of 1.09%. Although the number of members grew

7 CSSPP - ROMANIAN PRIVATE PENSIONS MARKET IN 2011, pg. 348 CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013, pg. 289 Idem

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constantly every month in 2012, the recorded values maintained between 1.47% in March and 0.61% in April. 10

Figure 1: Pillar III Market share by members and net assets – December 12Source: CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013

The first three voluntary pension funds, FPF ING OPTIM, FPF BCR PLUS and FPF AZT MODERATO, were holding approximately 67% of the net assets and about 70% of the members on December 31, 2012.

In December 2012, 3,150 new members joined one of the voluntary pension funds, which represented a decrease as compared with December 2011 (28.39%) and with June 2012 (6.86%). On the whole, during 2012, the number of new members was 31,767, with a maximum in March (3,899) and a minimum in April (1,647). 11

In December 2012, the best represented economic activities were industry, financial brokerage and real estate with approximately 11%, representing 33%. The worst represented economic activities, with weights of approximately 1%, were agriculture and tourism services (Fig. 2). 12

10 Idem11 Op. cit., pg. 3012 Idem

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Figure 2: Pillar III Structure of members by economic activities – December 2012Source: CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013

In December 2012, around 63% of the contributions to the voluntary funds were paid by employers (51.6%) or by members along with their employers (11.6%), whereas approximately 37% of the members paid their contributions individually (Fig. 3).

Figure 3: Pillar III Participation to the contribution payment – December 2012Source: CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013

By employer's location, in December 2012, the members' distribution was similar to the previous months, around 82 % in urban areas and 18% in rural areas.

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3.3 Investment structure

Pension funds’ investments are strictly regulated: the law imposes percentage ceilings for different asset classes. Voluntary pension funds can invest:13

- up to 20% of their assets in bank accounts and money market instruments; - up to 70% in state securities (T-bills and T-bonds) issued by Romania, a EU state or a European Economic Area (EEA) state; - up to 30% in municipal bonds issued by Romania, a EU state or a EEA state; - up to 50% in listed shares on stock markets in Romania, EU or a EEA state; - up to 15% in state securities issued by other states; - up to 10% in municipal bonds issued by other states; - up to 5% in listed foreign private bonds;- up to 5% in mutual (investment) funds in Romania or other countries.

There are no explicit restrictions regarding investments made abroad - in theory, voluntary pension funds can invest all their assets abroad. Pension funds can have one of the possible 3 risk profiles: low / medium / high risk. The investment rules are the same as in the mandatory system.

At the end of 2012, the amounts invested in municipal bonds and nongovernmental foreign bodies bonds recorded drops in comparison with December 2011. As for the other asset classes, the amounts invested recorded growths between 6.44% and 65.44%, in while the total assets increased by 37.46%. 14

Comparing with June 2012, except the amounts invested in bank deposits and municipal bonds, which recorded drops, the amounts invested in other asset classes showed increases between 3.07% and 46.18%, in the conditions in which the total assets increased by 16.92%. 15

Figure 4: Investment structure – December 2012Source: CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013

13 Asociatia pentru Pensiile Administrate Privat din Romania (APAPR) - http://www.apapr.ro/english/legislatie.html14 CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013, pg. 3215 Idem

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3.4 Rate of returnThe performance indicators of the voluntary pension funds recorded in December 2012 were (Fig. 5 and Fig. 6): 16

The annualized return rate of the dynamic pension funds: o AZT VIVACE: 6.7996% o ING ACTIV: 4.6498%

The weighted average return rate of all the dynamic pension funds: 5.4414%. The minimum return rate of the dynamic pension funds: 1.4414%.

The annualized return rates of the balanced pension funds: o AZT MODERATO: 6.6257% o BCR PLUS: 6.4400% o BRD MEDIO: 3.6630% o CONCORDIA MODERAT: 9.2447% o EUREKO CONFORT: 6.6043% o ING OPTIM: 5.1866% o PENSIA MEA: 7.4114% o RAIFFEISEN ACUMULARE: 7.0011% o STABIL: 6.3589%

The weighted average return rate of all the balanced pension funds: 5.9761%. The minimum return rate of the balanced pension funds: 1.9761%.

Figure 5: Pillar III - Weighted average rate of return for the period Dec. 11 – Dec. 12Source: CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013

16 CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013, pg. 3811

Figure 6: Pillar III Annualized rate of return – December 2012Source: CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013

4. Impact of the economic financial crisis17

The economic and financial crisis has been aggravated by the ageing process of the population. The interdependence between pension schemes and the weak points of those schemes, the crisis acts as an advertisement for all three pillars. All pension schemes are confronted with huge difficulties in accomplishing their task for offering a pension mainly because of the rise in unemployment rate, diminishing economic grow, a boost of the public debt and a volatility of financial markets.

Private pension schemes may absorb partially the pressure on public pension schemes, but they cannot solve totally the problem. Consequently, if the private pension schemes fail to accomplish their task, then inevitably will be pressure against the state in order for it to cover the hole.

Having rather secure amounts of money from the public pension scheme who were appointed to fulfill the role of automatic stabilizers, the present pensioners were, until the cut of their pensions, among the less affected by the crisis. But the crisis and the weak perspective of growth will affect probably all types of pension schemes.

In size, the fiscal deterioration is the equivalent of the loss of 20 years of fiscal stability. Therefore, fiscal constrained will be extremely severe in the next decade. Forecast says that the crisis will put a huge pressure on the public debt on long term, mainly because economic growth seems to be very limited (data for 2011 are in between 0.5 – 13.5%) and the moment when the recover will be completed is totally uncertain.

On the other hand, the crisis will have another serious impact on the future of pensions mainly because many workers will become unemployed and other workers will be constrained to accept lower wages or a reduced time of work. In that case, a huge challenge will be to keep the actual level of pensions.

17 Sava, Anca-Stefania, Studies and Scientific Researches - Economic Edition, no. 15, 2010, pg. 143-148

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5. Current political trends and trade union observationsFor the next decades, public pensions in Romania will not be able to provide, as it is the case in almost all EU countries, sufficient revenue in order to maintain at the same level the living standard the subscribers used to have during their work life time. Therefore, the public should be informed and financially educated in order to have a correct image regarding the future of public pension schemes and to take decisions for the pension period, even from the moment they started their careers.18

Private pension schemes represents a solid alternative, sustainable and with a wide social coverage to back up public pension schemes. To better fulfill their task, it is, however, necessary to have legislative stability and accelerated growth for the level of contributions who may reach 8-10% from the gross salary.19

The financial education for the public is a top priority, especially regarding the young generation, in order to secure a comfortable ageing period using private pension schemes.

On the other hand, the unions push to change the pension law in a sense that in the end of the subscription period the total amount of money saved for a pension will not drop under the total value of contributions plus the cumulated inflation rate. Practically, that means the minimum performance asked for the private pension scheme, to be at least equal to the inflation rate.

If taking into account an inflation rate of 7-8%, (the one in 2010) the halving of the amount is reached in only 9 years. That means that the employees may discover in 20-30 years when going on pension that they have far less money than they contributed at the pension fund.But the real solution for making all pillars valuable is generating a combined healthy policy of the state and private sectors of the economy, by: 1) creating more and better pay work places cumulated with 2) encouraging birth rate, 3) encouraging migration and, in extremis, to push for higher age limit pension (cumulated with net growth of living expectation).

In the last years, some efforts were made from the part of the national authorities in order to make the private pension system more transparent, disclosing some information concerning the computed financial returns for the private pension funds according to the nationally established methodology. Still, there are some further measures of surveillance that must be taken by the national authorities in the near future in order to prevent the implementation of some portfolio strategies by the fund managers, strategies that may affect the general interest of the contributors.20

6. Comparison between two offers available on the Romanian marketIn the following section, we will perform a comparison between two private pension offers from two different companies, ING Life Insurance and BCR Life Insurance. First of all, in order to get a private pension belonging to the third pillar, one has to be employed and be part of a private pension program from the second pillar. For ING pension, the minimum monthly contribution is 45 RON, whereas for BCR pension, this amount is 35 RON. For both

18 CSSPP - Private Pensions Quarterly Review - YEAR VI, No. 1/2013, pg. 219 Op. cit., pg. 320 Op. cit., pg. 5

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products, the maximum amount paid as monthly premium is 15% from the gross income, whereas the insured amount will increase according to the monthly premium.

In order to benefit from the private pension, regardless the company providing it, the insured has the right to choose when to start receiving the money, under the following conditions: the insured is at least 60 years old, he paid minimum 90 monthly contributions, not necessarily consecutively and the value of the individual account must exceed a minimum level required by law. In case the insured person intends to accumulate even after he/she turns 60, he/she can continue to pay contributions and will benefit of the pension at a later stage. However, in case the participant turned 60 and needs this money, but the other two requirements have not been met, he/she will receive the amount existing in the account as a lump sum.

Also, one has freedom of movement, meaning that he/she can decide at which pension fund to contribute, the contribution level and the contribution term. Both companies offer the possibility to transfer the contribution to another fund of the same administrator or of a different administrator. In case of transferring the individual account from a fund to another, certain commissions are perceived. BCR levies maximum 5% from net asset of the insured person, if the transfer takes place in the first two years of the insurance contract, and 0% if the transfer occurs after two years. As compared to BCR, ING perceives 0.5% of the net asset of the participant, regardless of the maturity of the insurance contract, but a minimum amount of three Euros. The insured is also given the possibility to suspend the contribution payment for a certain period of time or cease it.

We have noticed a difference between the contractual period and the premium payment period. The contract is valid until the insured person turns 95 years old, while the payment period of insurance premiums varies, depending on the age of the insured person, which can be 18 up to 70 years old. Both, ING and BCR impose a minimum insurance duration of 5 years.

For both products, the pension program includes a protection component, namely the life insurance and an investment one. The premium depends on various characteristics: gross income, status (employee, employer or authorized natural person) and the risk degree of different investment plans. The offer we received from ING is called Mixt50 and it has a high risk degree (4, on a scale from 1 to 6, where 6 is the highest). The program consists in 50% investment in instruments with fixed revenue, expressed in RON and 50% shares listed on Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Czech Republic Stock Exchange.

The offer from BCR supposes a lower risk degree, the investment product being called BCR Piano. In this case, the investment is made only in BCR Bonds investment fund. BCR has three investment programs: BCR Piano, BCR Forte and BCR Fortissimo, where BCR Fortissimo has the highest risk degree. The investment component of the private pension plan has a specific functioning mechanism. Premiums paid for investment are transformed in units under the chosen investment program, by dividing the premium to the purchase price of one unit. The risk associated to each investment program is an indicator of unit price fluctuation. The unit value is daily computed and it is based on the market value of adjacent assets. Information regarding the evolution of the investment programs is published on a daily basis on the websites of the companies.

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Both companies provide private pension with life insurance component as well, which covers the death of the insured person during the validity period of the insurance contract. There are two cases needed to be examined: the death of the insured person during the period in which he/she pays the premiums, and the death of the insured person after the contract has been fully paid. Here appear some discrepancies between the two offers we received. In case of death of the insured person during the payment period of the insurance premiums, ING will pay the beneficiaries the insured amount in case of death and the account value of the contract at the death date of the insured person, whereas BCR will pay maximum between the insured amount granted in case of death and the account value increased with 5% from the insured amount in case of death. In case the insured person died after he/she fully paid the contract, both companies will give the beneficiaries the account value at the death date of the insured person. In addition, BCR has extra protection in case of death. From the date the participant signed the insurance request until the issuance of the insurance policy, the insurer covers the death risk from accident for an insured amount of 3.000 Lei.

The insurance consultants from both companies recommended us to include in our private pension contract an additional insurance for permanent disability due to accidents. In this case, the insurer will pay the insured person an amount up to 100,000 lei, the maximum threshold ensured by both companies. This amount can be used for payment of premiums as well. ING suggested us to also contract the additional option of exemption from payment of the premiums. This option allows ceasing premiums payment in case the insured person is unable to pay them as a result of permanent disability due to accidents. In this case the insurance company takes over the payment of premiums.

In terms of commissions, both companies have different thresholds. The insurance policy monthly administration fee for ING is the equivalent in Lei of two Euros, regardless of the premium, while BCR takes up 0.25% from the monthly premium. From the point of view of administration fees and units transfer commissions we can draw the conclusion that BCR has lower targets than ING.

ING and BCR pension funds have notable benefits for persons applying to them: upon retirement they will gain more money (these sums are added up to mandatory State pension), no taxes are applied to their contribution (the voluntary pension is tax free), they become financially protected (when the insured persons turn 60, the amount accrued in their account will become available), they have the freedom of movement (they are in control of the pension fund at which to contribute, the contribution level, and the contribution term), and last but not least, they benefit of the system protection (the rate of return of each pension fund is compared with the minimum rate of return of the market funds). Both companies have provided us a detailed evolution of the prospective contract over its entire duration, under different scenarios. Various indicators have been taken into consideration: account value, death indemnity, and redemption value.

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References:1. Law no 263/2010 regarding public pension schemes -

http://www.mmuncii.ro/pub/imagemanager/images/file/Legislatie/LEGI/L263-2010.pdf;

2. Presenting the public pension schemes in Romania - http://www.mmuncii.ro/nou/index.php/ro/protectie-sociala/pensii/859-prezentarea-sistemului-de-pensii-din-romania;

3. Public pension schemes (http://www.cnpas.org/portal/media-type/html/language/en/user/anon/page/pensions);

4. Pension pillars (http://www.pensii-private-online.ro/);5. From where they come most subscribers of the third pillar

(http://incomemagazine.ro/articles/de-unde-provin-cei-mai-multi-participanti-la-pilonul-iii-din-intermedieri-financiare-si-imobiliare#);

6. National Institute of Statistics (www.insse.ro/cms/rw/pages/index.en.do);7. Private pensions quarterly review Romania 2013 -

http://www.csspp.ro/uploads/files/private-pensions-quarterly-review_mmo2.pdf;8. Romanian Private Pension Market 2011 Report -

http://www.oecd.org/redirect/site/iops/research/Romanian_Private_Pension_Market_2011_Report.pdf;

9. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – Romanian Pension system report http://www.oecd.org/redirect/site/iops/research/38708660.pdf;

10. The Romanian Pension Funds - http://www.privatepensions.ro./Pension-Funds-7.htm11. Sava, Anca-Stefania, Studies and Scientific Researches - Economic Edition, no. 15,

2010, pg. 143-148, http://pubs.ub.ro/sceco/papers/2010/20101523.pdf12. Asociatia pentru Pensiile Administrate Privat din Romania (APAPR) -

http://www.apapr.ro/english/legislatie.html13. European Commission - The 2012 Ageing Report Economic and budgetary

projections for the 27 EU Member States (2010-2060) http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2012/pdf/ee-2012-2_en.pdf

14. Center of Excellence in Finance - The Pension System in Romania (http://www.cef-see.org/pension_reform/Romania.pdf)

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