There are several dozen non-state pension funds in Russia . Their main function is to assist the state in paying the appropriate type of compensation to citizens. Among the most well-known brands of the Russian pension insurance market is NPF Trust. This organization has been successfully operating on the market for more than 17 years. What are the specifics of the trust fund? What do NPF clients write in reviews of their interaction with the fund? What are the positions of NPFs in the ratings of well-known agencies?
Fund Information
NPF Trust was established in 1997 - it is one of the first non-governmental pension funds of the Russian Federation. Among the co-founders of the organization are VolgaTelecom, OJSC NMZhK, OJSC Granit, OJSC Nizhpharm, as well as CJSC Nizhegorodpromstroybank. NPF cooperates not only with individuals, but also with legal entities.
In 2004, the organization received a license to conduct activities in the field of pension insurance and non-state support. In 2010, NPF “Trust” entered into an agreement with BINBANK OJSC. Subsequently, the BIN FINAM Group organization became the managing company of the fund. Another UK affiliated with the fund is UK Basic Invest LLC. Now NPFs are in the top 10 Russian organizations of the corresponding profile. The fund is considered one of the most profitable. In terms of the amount of its own property, the fund is in the top 30 Russian organizations.
Geography of activity
Where is the head office of NPF Trust? The address of the organization’s management structure: Moscow, Bolshoy Savvinsky Lane, 12, building 9. The amount of the organization’s authorized capital is 150 million rubles. The current geography of NPF “Trust” is Moscow and more than 20 Russian regions. The fund is estimated by experts as one of the fastest growing in terms of network development in the constituent entities of the Federation.
Structure conversion
In 2014, the fund carried out the process of transforming the legal status from NPO to JSC. A new structure has been created - CJSC NPF Trust. In 2015, the fund was included in the state register of organizations that became participants in the customer rights insurance system. Now CJSC NPF Trust is the official name of the organization.
Work Results and Ratings
In 2012, the organization entered the top 10 funds by the number of signed agreements on the participation of citizens in the mandatory pension insurance program. In the same year, several leading banks in the Russian Federation became partners of NPFs. The fund’s marketing strategy includes a wide range of activities: engaging advertising channels, online resources.
The NPF carries out 2 main areas of activity: work in the field of non-state support, as well as interaction with citizens in the framework of mandatory pension insurance programs. Both areas of the organization’s work are assessed by experts as successful. So, for example, in the first quarter of 2013, more than 339 thousand people in the aspect of interaction under the mandatory pension insurance programs provided trust to the fund. Non-state pension fund, reviews of which began to be actively distributed online, was characterized by clients as a structure in which qualified and responsive specialists work. In the 1st quarter of 2013, the amount of accumulations in the fund amounted to 7.8 billion rubles, which is about 20 times more than the figure for the same period in 2012.
National Rating Agency Rating
One of the indicative reliability criteria of NPF Trust is rating. It can be formed on the basis of the criteria proposed by different organizations. So, the National Rating Agency considered that for NPF Trust, the rating should be determined at the level of AA-. In accordance with the classification adopted in this organization, this indicator characterizes the fund as a very reliable structure.
Assessment RA "Expert"
Another organization, Expert RA agency, considered that the fund should be classified as an organization with A + rating. According to the classification of this agency, this means that the NPF is also characterized as reliable. At the same time, Expert RA analysts assigned the status of “stable” to the forecast. This means that CJSC NPF Trust (the opinions of many experts correlate with this point of view) is likely to retain its current rating in the future. Consider the nature of the respective ratings in more detail.
High Position Factors
What is the reason that the Trust Fund has taken such high positions? NPFs (reviews of many market analysts confirm this), first of all, managed to build a balanced investment strategy. Also, one of the positive factors in assessing the organization's activities is the support provided by the founders. A significant role is played by the dynamic distribution of NPF units in the regions of Russia, as well as the high qualification of the staff of the fund. According to analysts, the top governing bodies of the fund employ people who are considered one of the most competent in the field of private pension insurance.
The investment policy of the organization is characterized by experts as sufficiently conservative. That is, NPF “Trust” (reviews of employees working in relevant positions confirm this) builds its work, trying to ensure, on the one hand, a high level of profitability, and on the other, to use reliable financial instruments.
Regarding the opinion of Expert RA agency, a high level of profitability of savings accrued to personal accounts of citizens who have concluded insurance contracts with NPFs has also become a positive factor in assessing the rating of the fund. For example, from 2009 to 2012, the corresponding indicator was 29%, while inflation did not exceed 23% for the same period.
The high reliability rating of NPF Trust, CJSC, analysts believe, may also be due to the impressive dynamics of growth in savings, as well as the fact that the fund is among the leaders of the Russian market by such a criterion as the number of agreements signed in the OPS segment.
Other positive indicators that influenced the Expert RA score are the optimal ratio of the insurance reserve to such an indicator as RPPO. Analysts recorded that in the 3rd quarter of 2013 it amounted to 6.4%, while the median value for the market was fixed at 6%.
It can also be noted that the business processes and the functioning of the IT infrastructure of the fund were rated by Expert RA for NPF Trust as moderately high.
The most important factor that influenced the high positions of NPFs in the ranking of a well-known agency is the disclosure of the investor financing plan for the organization. So, since 2011, such an entity has been a large financial organization that is interested in promoting private pension insurance in the market.
Restraining criteria
One of the constraining criteria in assessing the sustainability of the fund by Expert RA specialists was the fact that NPFs are characterized by a high share of accumulations in the total amount of pension funds - about 97%, and also by a rather low IOE sufficiency indicator - in Q3 2013 it amounted to 0 , 2% in relation to accumulations, and also 2% in respect of NPF expenses. Analysts at Expert RA found it difficult to assess the prospects as well as the quality of services that characterize the BIN FINAM Group Asset Management Company. This organization has not been evaluated in terms of reliability ratings formed by experts of Expert RA and other well-known structures that would meet the criteria for classifying a company as level “A” and levels exceeding it.
Further development strategy
The data published in various sources indicate that the fund will focus on further increasing its client base, as well as on creating pension programs in the corporate communications segment.
Also, a promising business model of the fund involves further improving the quality of interaction with customers and increasing the functioning efficiency of various structures of the organization as a whole.
Termination of contract with NPF
Despite the fact that the reviews left on specialized portals by Trust NPF clients are largely positive, some citizens are faced with the need to terminate the contract with the fund. This may be due to various reasons. For example, an employer company that has entered into an agreement with another fund may make appropriate recommendations. If a person decided to refuse to cooperate with NPF Trust, how to terminate the contract in the most correct way?
Permissible termination of the contract
In accordance with the law, the termination of the contract with the NPF is possible at any time. All that a citizen needs to do is send a statement to the organization of the appropriate type. It is also necessary to sign documents in accordance with which the amount deposited on NPF accounts will be transferred to another fund or transferred to the bank details of a citizen.
Moreover, the payment procedure established by NPF “Trust” may differ from the standards adopted in other organizations of a similar profile. But, as a rule, the payment of the amounts is carried out when the accumulated funds are used in the formula for calculating it, as well as the added income. The payments that have already been made are deducted.
It doesn’t matter when exactly the person decided to end the relationship with the Trust fund - at the stage when funds are being accumulated, or in the process of making payments. The entire amount payable to the client must be transferred as part of the established procedures.
Tax liability
The citizen's right to receive income from non-state pension funds with which the contract is terminated is also accompanied by an obligation to pay personal income tax on the corresponding type of revenue. True, if a person chose the option according to which the funds are transferred to another non-state pension fund from Trust, then there is no need to pay tax. Another nuance: the financial costs associated with the transfer of funds from one organization to another are borne by the client of the NPF.
The rules we have reviewed are common to all non-governmental funds, including NPF Trust. How to terminate the contract, we learned. Now we are exploring the range of opinions of experts, as well as clients of Trust. What is the degree of sentiment of investors of this non-state pension fund?
Reviews on the Trust Fund
Many market experts are of the opinion that the fund was lucky with a name that includes the word "trust." NPF (reviews of many of its investors confirm this) managed to impress citizens with a high level of staff competence. Citizens speak of the organization’s specialists as qualified, experienced experts who are ready to explain to the client any nuances of pension programs.
It is characteristic of the opinions about the NPF under consideration that the degree of assessment of the activities of organizations does not depend on the region. If the city in which the customers who have left feedback about NPF “Trust” live is Moscow, then opinions are as constructive as if they are formed by investors, for example, from Orenburg. This suggests that in all regions of the NPF works within the framework of a single model of interaction with clients, which, apparently, is characterized by a properly personalized approach and high quality of service for citizens who apply. If the city in which the NPF “Trust” branch operates is Samara, reviews from local citizens will probably be similar to those left by Muscovites.
Profitability factor
What exactly do the fund contributors like, apart from the service? If we analyze the opinions on the subject of factors that predetermined trust, NPFs (reviews of many analysts correlate with this) attract customers with reliability. That is, the fund does not promise investors incredible profitability figures, but it makes it clear that the indicators that are achieved as part of the current investment strategy did not arise by chance. Therefore, as evidenced by the reviews addressed to NPF Trust, clients are attracted by transparency in the organization’s relations with investors. NPF specialists who interact with citizens explain in detail the benefits of concluding an agreement with the fund, focusing on the balanced investment model of the organization.
There is also a reasonable degree of doubt regarding the activities of the foundation among citizens. They are mainly associated with precedents that reflect visits by representatives of private pension funds to apartments of potential clients and obsessive offers to conclude an agreement. However, there is no reliable public information that such an NPF practice is systemic in nature, as well as facts that conclusively confirm that it is Trust employees who make the visits. An agent can be an intermediary offering to conclude agreements with different NPFs.