Romanian mandatory private pension funds slash external placements to 23 percent of the portfolio in August

According to CSSPP, the funds on Pillar II increased placements in EU countries to 25.6 percent of the portfolio in July, from 20 percent in December 2008.

Administrators on Pillar II continued to invest in assets with a low degree risk in August, keeping the trend seen in 2008 and in the first part of the year, according to CSSPP. 

Most of the placements were state securities (58.37 percent) and corporate bonds (20.46 percent). Bank deposits represented only 4.66 percent of the funds' investments last month. 

The mandatory private pension market ran net assets of 1.85 billion lei at the end of August, up 8.5 percent on the previous month. 

The pension system was reformed last year in May. Apart from the traditionally state-collected pensions (Pillar I) and the optional private ones (Pillar III), a new type appeared, the mandatory pensions privately managed (Pillar II).