AUSTRIA - The VBV-Vorsorgekasse, the severance pay fund offered by Austria's largest Pensionskasse, has performed better than the market average in 2008.
While other Vorsorgekassen (BVK) in the mandatory severance fund system returned -2% on average last year the VBV managed a -0.17% return. (See earlier IPE article: Bonds save severance funds falls)
"Bonds, cash, mortgages and short-term money market investments made up a large part of the asset allocation," said Heinz Behacker, chairman of the board at the VBV Vorsorgekasse.
He confirmed the investment strategy will remain largely the same for 2009, with the fund investing "mainly in companies and countries which are paving the way when it comes to ecological and social developments and have a comparably good economic performance".
The VBV subsidiary noted its annualised result over a 5-year-period was 4.55 percentage points better than the market average and has just signed up customer number 1.5 million.
VBV Pensionskasse has meanwhile also signed another company and won a tender for the Austrian energy control company e-control, which currently has around 70 full-time members of staff.
It will offer employees which have stayed with the company for at least a year the chance to pay 1% of their salary into a pensionskasse.
"We have tendered for Pensionskassen services in order to try and bind employees to our company," said a spokesman, who added he expected people to choose the most conservative asset allocation with the lowest equity exposure.
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