British insurance giant Aviva has signed an agreement to acquire Dutch group ING's non-state pension fund business and its holding company in Russia.
The pension fund, which had assets under management of £30.4m at 31 December 2008, provides pensions to large multi-national corporate clients and has 17,000 members. The gross assets of the holding company were £0.08 million ** at 31 December 2008.
The acquisition will see Aviva become the leading foreign-owned provider of non-state pension fund products in Russia, with around a 10% share of the assets under management within the competitive non-captive corporate pensions market.
Andrea Moneta, chief executive, Aviva Europe, said: "This acquisition will grow our market share of the Russian non-state pension fund business significantly, taking us from a top three foreign-owned player to the leading position. The deal provides the opportunity for us to cross-sell other life and savings products to a substantial customer base."
The acquisition has received approval from the Russian anti-monopoly authority and is expected to complete in early May 2009.
The Russian pension fund market is tiny in comparison to the west and a difficult nut to crack. Just ask US giant State Street Global Advisors which pulled out of a joint venture with local player Pallada Asset Management a few years ago.
Loading ...
