Austrian pension fund assets rose by 7.7% in 2003, rising to E97bn from E90bn, according to the Austrian Investment Association.
The 23-member VOIC, or Vereinigung Osterreichischer Investmentgesellschaften, made the comments in a report entitled ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’.
“Altogether the Austrian funds could book a profit on the scale of 5.4%,” says VOIC.
Economic developments had triggered “cautious optimism” and prompted hopes of positive development of the fixed assets says Christian Boehm, of Fachverbands der Pensionskassen, the country’s pension fund association.
He says: “The good results of 2003 bring a stabilisation of returns for the pension funds” and adds that there were plans for a higher standard of transparency.