Pension fund returns mixed in February

Chile's five private pension fund managers (AFPs) saw assets under management deliver mixed results in February, according to preliminary figures posted on local regulator SP's website. Each AFP offers a family of five funds with different risk profiles, with fund A having the highest ceiling of variable income investments and fund E able to invest a maximum of 5% in stock. Profitability by fund type in February was: fund A, -2.79%; fund B, -0.98%; fund C, 0.69%; fund D, 1.95%; and fund E, 3.17%. According to industry experts, the latter saw returns improve thanks to a strong interest rate cut decreed by the central bank in the month, while those funds more exposed to equities were hit by falling stock markets, which fell both locally and abroad. The global financial crisis led Chilean pension assets to fall to US$74.3bn as of December 31, a 22.5% drop from end-2007. Rebounding stock markets in December and January, however, helped multifunds post positive returns in that period for the first time in months. The five AFPs saw assets under management of US$77.3bn as of January 31, 15.6% below the same time in 2008, according to the latest official data available. SP is expected to publish official figures for AFP asset performance on March 10.