The rates of return of SEB’s pension funds were positive in 2017

As at 1 January, SEB Varahaldus manages the pension assets of more than 141,000 Estonians. The assets have a total value of almost 700 million euros. Last year, people made more than 90 million euros’ worth of contributions to SEB’s pension funds of the second pension pillar to ensure their future. The rates of return of the most popular funds, SEB Progressive Pension Fund and SEB Energetic Pension Fund, where more than 122,000 Estonians are saving for retirement, have been positive for the past five years.

"The amount of people saving for retirement and the volume of assets are increasing every year, which means increasing responsibility for asset managers as well as for the investors themselves. Our aim is to offer competitive rates of return for pension investors, while not overly concentrating risks. When making investment decisions, we prioritise the interests of pension savers to achieve the best results. We are also willing to support pension savers by providing relevant information and knowledge on how to achieve the desired saving goals in the future," said Indrek Holst, Chairman of the Management Board of SEB Elu- ja Pensionikindlustus.

The rates of return of SEB’s pension funds were positive and more popular in 2017. The most popular funds, SEB Progressive Pension Fund and SEB Energetic Pension Fund, have been outpacing local inflation since their creation.

"In 2017, preferring Europe and emerging markets brought us success in investment in equities. The equities of emerging markets were one of the most successful asset classes last year and Europe also made a moderate comeback in 2017. In fixed income investments, preferring corporate bonds to government bonds paid off. We made numerous tactical changes in the risk levels and regional preferences of funds over the course of the year. We used the advantages of our international investment team, which helped us analyse macro trends and different asset classes thoroughly as well as find new investment opportunities. 2018 is still encouraging in terms of world economy and the outlooks of financial markets. Corrections on markets are unavoidable, however, and therefore, we will maintain tactical flexibility," said Endriko Võrklaev, fund manager at SEB Varahaldus.

A more detailed overview of second pillar pension funds in Q4 of 2017 along with the comments of Endriko Võrklaev, fund manager at SEB Varahaldus, is available here:

• SEB Conservative Pension Fund
• SEB Optimal Pension Fund
• SEB Progressive Pension Fund
• SEB Energetic Pension Fund

Specified rates of return in 2017 by SEB’s pension funds. Management fees have already been deducted from all results:

Additional information:

Julia Piilmann

Communication Manager
Communication Department
SEB Pank

phone: +372 665 5340
mobile phone: +372 5124 808
address: Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn
e-mail address: julia.piilmann@seb.ee