Aviva reported Q1 gross premium subscription of over 19 million RON, up by 30.45% from the corresponding period of last year, and an overall asset value of 164,700,459 RON, up by 56.95% year-on-year. The RON-denominated investment program launched in February 2006 generated 18.33% growth in the first 12 months on the market.
The Romanian life insurance and long-term savings market stands at 350 million EUR, according to Shah Rouf, the GM of Aviva Asigurari de Viata Romania. "We are convinced that Romania will become the second most important market in Central and Eastern Europe after Poland," he said.
Aviva is one of the first two life insurance companies in Romania to have been authorized to manage optional pension funds by the Private Pension System Supervisory Commission (CSSPP). In April, Aviva received the license to manage optional pensions (Pillar III) and is awaiting CSSPP"s agreement to start with the "Pensia Mea" optional pension fund.
The fund will invest in fixed-revenue instruments (75%) and listed shares (25%), whereas BRD will be the depository. Aviva has also started the process to obtain a license for a mandatory private pension company (Pillar 2). For Pillar 2, Aviva will invest an initial 100 million EUR and estimates 1,000,000 customers for the first operational year.