Armenia’s pension funds have reached an all-time high, with total assets amounting to $2.6 billion (1 trillion drams), as reported by Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, Armen Nurbekyan, during a parliamentary commission session.
Currently, approximately 460,000 citizens are active participants in the pension system. Nurbekyan emphasized that the rapid growth of pension fund assets creates new opportunities for investing in the country’s economy through government bonds and corporate securities.
The management of pension assets in Armenia follows a mixed model. The Central Depository handles centralized accounting and safekeeping of funds, while two international firms — Amundi-ACBA Asset Management and C-Quadrat Ampega Asset Management — are entrusted with direct asset management under the supervision of the Central Bank.
“The accumulative funds have grown to such a scale that we must provide them with greater opportunities to contribute to the investment development of Armenia’s economy,” Nurbekyan noted.
Earlier, BMG reported plans to expand the investment capabilities of Armenia’s pension funds to enhance their profitability and support economic growth. Proposed amendments to the "Law on Accumulative Pensions" aim to relax restrictions on fund investments. These include increasing the share of investments in equities from 25% to 35%, potentially boosting average annual returns by 0.7% over a 30-year horizon. Additionally, direct investments in the real sector of the economy may be permitted up to 10% of assets, promising an extra return of 0.43% with lower volatility.
