Afore XXI dismisses sale talk as rumor mongering

The alleged interest of Mexico's social security agency IMSS in selling its stake in pension fund administrator Afore XXI is the product of local rumors, Afore XXI strategic planning manager Tonatiuh Rodriguez told BNamericas. The rumor started when from local press reports this week that the IMSS could sell some of its assets to meet its financial obligations. The IMSS is responsible for managing the state-run pension system. According to Rodriguez the IMSS said at the most recent Afore XXI board meeting at the end of last year that the company was a strategic asset. Afore XXI is also a profitable institution, he added. Rodriguez declined to put a value on Afore XXI, saying only that local insurer Prudential Apolo bought a 50% stake in the company at the beginning of last year for US$130mn. Afore XXI had 1.86 million contributors at the end of November 2002. Mexico adopted the mandatory pension contribution system known as Afores in 1997. Afores receive contributions from workers, which are then put into investment vehicles called Siefores.