Pension Funds

Individuals and/or companies make voluntary contributions to a participant’s pension account. Assets are accumulated and grow through investment income. Upon reaching retirement age, the participant receives pension payments. During the period of pension payments, the fund balance continues to earn interest.

The amount of the benefit (pension) depends solely on the amount of savings accounted for in the participant’s pension account at the time of the benefit and the duration of the benefit. In order to make the savings work more efficiently, it is advisable to start making pension contributions as early as possible – a longer period for contributions and the growth of pension funds due to compound interest will allow for a higher investment return. Even small contributions over a long period of time can help you accumulate substantial capital.

You can calculate your future pension using the Private Pension Calculator

Anyone can be a member of the NPF:

• citizen of Ukraine
• foreigner
• a stateless person

Contributors may be spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents of the fund participant, children of the fund participant’s spouse, including children adopted by him or her, parents of the fund participant’s spouse, and legal entities (employer or professional association of which the fund participant is a member).

The minimum and maximum age of a participant is not limited by law. For example, the youngest member of OTP Pension is 1 year old, and the oldest is 91 years old

There are no limits or obligations. You decide how much  and how often to pay. In Europe and the United States, for example, a monthly payment of 5 to 10 percent of profits is considered the norm.

You can monitor the status of your pension account in your personal online account on the website of the Fund Administrator, or in the mobile application and via a free monthly SMS newsletter.

The law stipulates that pension payments must begin no earlier than 10 years before the official retirement age (currently 50 years). Payments must last at least 10 years and can be made monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. If the amount of savings is small (as of January 2023, up to UAH 125,580), the funds can be received in a lump sum.

Yes, if the participant moves abroad for permanent residence  or her passport or has a medically confirmed critical health condition (cancer, stroke, disability).

You can transfer your savings to another pension fund, but no more than once every six months.

The fund and asset There is strict state control over NPFs by regulatory authorities. The fund, as well as each of the servicing companies, is subordinated to its own supervisory authority.

The fund and the asset management company are supervised by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission. The custodian bank is supervised by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission and the National Bank of Ukraine.

In addition, the non-state pension fund and its servicing companies must undergo an independent audit on an annual basis.

Pension fund assets are accounted for separately from the assets of the servicing companies. Therefore, in the event of problems with the fund administrator, asset management company or custodian bank, their insolvency or bankruptcy, the funds of the assets participants will be preserved and transferred to another company for servicing.

The protection of savings is ensured by legislation and strict control of the fund’s activities by the state. NPF is a non-profit organization and cannot be declared bankrupt with the subsequent termination of liability to its participants. The law provides for a special procedure for transferring funds from one NPF to another and makes it impossible for a participant to lose pension assets

To protect pension savings, assets are diversified. The legislation clearly sets out the requirements for limits and investment areas for pension assets. The investment rules for each fund are set out in its investment declaration. NPFs prioritize a conservative investment strategy that minimizes the possibility of losing savings.

The security of savings is ensured by strict control over the activities of the fund and service companies by the state and special legislation that provides for additional levels and mechanisms for protecting funds:

• Requirements for diversification of the fund’s assets and reliability of investment instruments
• Distribution of functions of management, storage and accounting of funds
• Mutual control of service companies and property liability for violations
• Accounting of fund assets separately from the assets of service companies
• Possibility to replace the service company
• State control over the fund’s activities, licensing of service companies, qualification requirements for employees of these companies and members of the fund’s Board
• Mandatory reporting and disclosure of information, independent audit

Payment are taxed at 100% of the amount in case of a lump sum payment (according to the law: Tax Code – standard conditions for taxation of payments from NPF).

Payment are taxed at 60% of the amount when paid for a specified period of 10 years or more (according to the law: Tax Code – since the payment period is long, a tax rebate is available and tax is withheld only from 60% of the payment amount).

Participants over 70 years of age, disabled persons of the first disability group, and heirs of a participant of the first degree of kinship are exempt from taxation.

The Tax Code of Ukraine stipulates that contributions to a non-state pension fund are eligible for a tax deduction in the amount not exceeding the subsistence minimum for an able-bodied person as of January 1 of the reporting year multiplied by a coefficient of 1.4.

For 2022, the maximum amount from which the tax can be refunded should not exceed UAH 41,640. That is, the maximum amount of the benefit that can be expected in 2022 is 18% of 41640=7495,2 UAH It is necessary to fill out and submit a declaration to the State Tax Inspectorate (STI) at the place of residence. The declaration can be filed both physically and through the taxpayer’s electronic office if the participant has an electronic signature. It should be noted that a tax return on contributions to a non-state pension fund may be filed for the previous year until December 31 of the current year.

The declaration must contain information on contributions paid and income received for the previous year. The following documents must be attached to confirm the data entered:

• copies of the passport and TIN of the participant and depositor
• copies of contracts
• documents confirming family relationships
• a certificate of income verification
• payment documents confirming the payment of contributions (payment orders, cash receipts, etc.).

Within 60 days after filing the return, the tax rebate is returned to the taxpayer’s specified bank account.

A non-state pension fund is a legal entity that has the status of a non-profit organization, functions and operates exclusively for the purpose of accumulating pension contributions  for the benefit of pension fund participants, and then managing pension assets and making pension payments.

The Fund’s governing body is the Supervisory Board, which oversees the fund’s day-to-day operations. The Chairman and members of the Fund’s Board undergo mandatory special training and receive certificates of specialists in private pension provision and must periodically confirm their qualifications. The Fund’s Board enters into contracts:

– For administration (registration of depositors and participants, maintenance of personal accounts, reporting and calculation of payments)w ith the NPF administrator;

– For asset management (investment activity) with an asset management company

– For costodian services with a custodian bank

The purpose of the NPF is to protect savings from inflation and to increase pension savings by generating low-risk investment returns to fully meet obligations to fund participants. The NPF’s investment policy is reflected in the Fund’s investment policy statement. This document contains a list of specific instruments for the placement of the Fund’s pension assets in accordance with the requirements of the law.

Investment income is the profit earned as a result of investing the Fund’s assets in certain financial instruments. Investment income is included in the calculation of the net asset value (NAV), which is calculated daily. All profits belong to the participants of the NPF and are distributed among them in proportion to the amount of their contributions. In fact, a participant’s investment gain is the difference between the current value of the assets and his or her contributions.

By law, the NPF’s return cannot be guaranteed, but you can analyze the Fund’s historical performance or compare the Fund’s return with others. In different periods, the Fund may show different returns depending on the financial market situation and available investment opportunities.

In the process of long-term investment, there are many factors that affect the final result. If you are not satisfied with the quality of management of your retirement savings, you can transfer your funds to another fund.

This possibility exists. The possibility of loss is inherent in all financial instruments – there is no investment without risk. However, a well-thought-out conservative investment strategy based on quality risk management and many years of experience with the OTP Group, as well as the professionalism of the service companies, allows us to speak about the reliability of NPFs managed by AMC OTP Capital.

Pension asset unit (PAU) is an indicator used to determine the participant’s share in the total value of the Fund’s assets (Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine “On Non-State Pension Provision”). All transactions on the participant’s individual pension account are recorded in pension units and hryvnia.

The calculation of this indicator can be seen in the example of a pension contribution credited to the NPF participant’s individual pension account.

PAU=PC/NAV of the pension unit, where

PC – pension contribution

NAV of Pension Unit – net value of a unit of pension assets at the time of PC enrolment (calculated daily and published on the website).

How the NAV of a share is calculated

PC – 1000 UAH.

NAV of the pension unit (on the day of contribution payment) – 6.00 UAH

PAU = 1000/6.00 = 166.67

The participant’s account is credited with 1000 UAH, i.e. 166.67 pension units.