POLAND – The Polish subsidiary of Allianz has taken over the Warta open pension fund, increasing its assets under management in the country to PLN11.8bn (€2.9bn).

Once local authorities approve the latest deal, the number of pension funds in Poland will shrink to 12 after the recent takeovers of PKO and Polsat as part of a widely expected consolidation process.

Beata Wojcik, head of communications at Allianz Poland, confirmed to IPE that PTE Allianz Polska – a subsidiary of Allianz’s Polish insurer TUiR Allianz Polska, which managed PLN8.2bn at the end of March and will now increase its market share to 4.4% – had agreed the deal.

In the summer of last year, KBC already offloaded Warta’s insurance business to Germany-based Talanx.

Johan Thijs, chief executive at KBC, said: “This transaction is part of our strategy to focus on our core markets. It has no material impact on our P&L nor on our capital ratios.”

The Allianz pension fund returned 18% in 2012 – the highest return reported for any Polish pension fund last year, according to Wojcik.

As of the end of 2012, Warta OFE was the second smallest pension fund in the second pillar, with PLN272.3bn in assets under management combined over all funds.

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