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- "More than 330 billion rubles have already been invested in the long-term savings program"
"More than 330 billion rubles have already been invested in the long-term savings program"
At the beginning of the year, 4.6 million Russians had invested in the long-term savings program, which should become the basis for Russians to save independently for retirement. Sergey Belyakov, President of the National Association of Non-Governmental Pension Funds (NAPF), told Izvestia about this in an interview. In the future, it will continue to be developed — perhaps even quasi-mandatory pension schemes for employers will appear in the Russian Federation, according to which companies will send money to individual accounts of citizens. This initiative is being discussed at the level of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia. The government is also ready to support the expansion of opportunities for investing maternity capital in the long-term savings program for children. Is it profitable to carry money in NPFs and who might be interested in it when deposit rates are very attractive — in an interview with Izvestia.
"The number of pensioners will definitely grow"
— Are people actively investing in the long-term savings program?
— If 2.8 million contracts were signed by the end of 2024, then at the end of April, exactly one year after the actual launch of the program, there were already 4.6 million, that is, more than one and a half times more.
More than 330 billion rubles have already been invested in the long-term savings program. It turns out that, on average, Russians deposited 72 thousand rubles to each PDS account, which is a good result for the first year of work.
— The figures do look good, but this is taking into account the co—financing from the state. In your opinion, is this due to the effect of a low base, or will independent savings continue to grow at the same rapid pace?
— We expect that by the end of the year the amount of funds for the PDS will double to 750 billion rubles.
The Long—term Savings Program (RSP) is a voluntary savings product for citizens with government participation, which has been operating since January 2024. You can open a PDS agreement in any of the 35 non-governmental pension funds (NPFs) connected to the PDS. The program allows you to receive co-financing from the state up to 36 thousand rubles per year, tax deductions for contributions up to 400 thousand, and also transfer your pension savings formed from 2002 to 2014 to the program.
— Doesn't it stop people that funds are "locked up" for 15 years?
— This is the main problem of ordinary citizens — it is difficult for them to part with money for a long time and invest it in their future. The economic shocks of recent years have created great uncertainty, so it will take time for people to appreciate the benefits of pension programs. The state contributes to this by actively stimulating people through the PDS program.
The point of non-governmental pension provision (NGO) is to put money aside, as in a piggy bank, and withdraw it from there after a time during which the funds will be protected from inflation and gradually increase. The only question here is goal setting — the higher the benefit, the greater the risks. NPFs choose the most secure assets to save their clients' funds.
Russians should not be afraid to invest in the program, because all funds remain financially stable. In 10 years, there has not been a single case of bankruptcy of NPFs on the market, and the number of pension funds has increased over the past two years. Although there is still too little competition in the market — in 2024, 70% of all funds in the system revolved around the top 5 players. In the next five years, the concentration will increase to 80%, and this is not good for the economy.
— What was the profitability of pension savings last year? Wouldn't it be more profitable for Russians to deposit money at 20%?
— Priority is now being given to protected assets such as bonds, which have become more profitable during the record high key interest rate of 21%. Due to this, some funds showed returns of up to 25% per annum by the end of 2024.
The main problem is the narrow choice of reliable instruments in which NPFs can invest. More than 250 companies are traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange, but only 63 of them meet the requirements for NPF investments.
Nevertheless, deposits are intended for short-term savings, whereas long-term savings are focused on the prospect of 10-15 years to form capital by the time a person retires or to make expensive purchases. The PDS allows you to slowly, literally "for change" to form solid capital for any purpose over a fairly long period, and its main value is the preservation of funds.
— Still, it seems that so far independent pension contributions make up an extremely small proportion of total pension assets...
— The total amount of pension assets in Russia, located both in NPFs and in the Social Fund, exceeded 8.1 trillion rubles. However, the share of pension assets in GDP remains extremely low, at only 4%. This indicator is growing slowly, and even the influx of funds due to the launch of the PDS has not corrected the situation. For comparison, in a number of countries, the share of pension assets in GDP reaches 200%, and in many developed economies it consistently exceeds 100% or is approaching this level.
— The President has set a goal to bring the share of personal income tax in the total amount of savings to 40%. But there are about 50 trillion rubles in deposits now, which means that the PDS still occupies less than 1% of the market. Will it be possible to achieve the goal set by the President and in what time frame?
— This goal will definitely be achieved one day. In addition, the president instructed to increase the amount of funds in the social security fund to 1% of GDP by 2026, which is at least 2.3 trillion rubles. Given the pace of development of the program, this goal seems quite feasible. Time will tell if this will be possible by the end of 2026, but we are striving for this.
— How many pensioners are there in Russia at the moment and how will their number change in the coming years?
According to the Social Fund of Russia, as of April 1, 2025, there were slightly more than 41 million pensioners in the Russian Federation: since the beginning of the year, their number has decreased by 100,000. Of these, 8.1 million are working pensioners and about 33 million are unemployed. The number of pensioners will definitely grow, as will the relevance of NPFs. Many Russians are already transferring pension savings formed in the period from 2002 to 2014 to the SDS program.
"It is corporate programs that provide the main influx of clients and funds into the pension system"
— How did the launch of the PDS affect the development of corporate pension programs?
— In general, employers' interest in them has increased significantly due to the PDS. The number of vacancies involving corporate pension programs has increased to 61 thousand. However, the potential is still great — the total number of vacancies on the market is estimated at millions.
The trend mainly concerns large market participants and the most stable representatives of medium—sized businesses - most often these are companies from the fields of PR and marketing, financial services, as well as engineering and trade.
It is corporate programs that provide the main influx of clients and funds into the pension system. Therefore, tax benefits for employers in this area are very important.
Many Russian companies are ready to introduce mandatory corporate pension schemes. Quasi-mandatory programs imply that the initiative will come not from the state, but from within the business community, although the decisions themselves will be supported by the state. Thanks to the PDS and tax benefits for employers participating in the program, it becomes possible to practically implement this initiative.
The Association believes that it is a good idea to include NGO participation in employment contracts. People need to invest more actively in their own future, but many still think in the old paradigm, believing that "the state is obliged." Quasi-mandatory solutions will make non-governmental pension solutions the norm and, one might say, will form a culture of consumption of such services. This initiative is being discussed with the business community at the level of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, in particular within the framework of the work of the committees of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP). We have specific recommendations on this initiative, which we are actively promoting.
"Which ones?"
— For example, the same tax benefits for employers that we discussed earlier. The Ministry of Finance, with the participation of the market, has developed a project that will allow companies to exempt from income tax funds allocated by companies to the long-term savings program. It is proposed to set a limit on tax-exempt deductions within 12% of the payroll.
The draft law on tax incentives for employers has already been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and was submitted to the State Duma for consideration on May 16. We expect the new regulations to come into force in 2026.
— Is the indexation of the co-financing limit for the SDA being discussed?
- no. For the time being, it will not change — the budget of the Russian Federation includes expenditures of up to 36 thousand rubles per year per participant of the PDS, and we consider these funds sufficient in today's conditions. We can certainly revisit this issue in the future, but no changes are expected in the next few years.
"The Ministry of Finance supports the investment of maternity capital in family investment instruments"
— The President also instructed to prepare the parameters of the family investment instrument, which should combine the mechanisms of personal income tax, shared life insurance and individual investment accounts. How is the work going in this area?
— The increased tax deduction for the amount of contributions to the Social Security Fund, IIA and DSJ in the amount of 400 thousand rubles has already shown its effectiveness as a motivating factor. An initiative to increase this limit to 1 million rubles is currently being considered. The idea is under discussion at the Ministry of Finance.
The industry is also discussing the possibility of allowing the use of maternity capital funds for investments in PDS and other long-term investment tools. But the PDS program is designed for 15 years, while shared life insurance and AIS have shorter terms — from three to five years. If a decision is made on the possibility of using maternity capital for contributions to children's savings products, it will be necessary to establish uniform requirements for the timing of these programs. This is necessary to create equal conditions and prevent unfair competition. The Ministry of Finance generally supports the idea of allowing the investment of maternity capital in family investment instruments, but I emphasize that the decision is still only at the stage of working discussions.
An expansion of the list of special life situations in which early withdrawal of funds is possible is also being discussed for family PDS. It is proposed to include in the list not only treatment and loss of a breadwinner, but also the payment of higher education, as well as the purchase of housing. Issues related to real estate require additional study in order to exclude fraudulent schemes, but in general this idea is feasible.
— Are there any plans to provide additional benefits for children's PDS?
— At the VTB forum "Russia is Calling!" in December 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to develop a family investment tool. So all benefits under the PDS will also apply to products issued to minors — under their PDS and shared life insurance contracts, the total tax deduction will also amount to 1 million rubles. There will also be an opportunity to spend this money on education. Such measures create a serious motivation for family savings. By the age of majority of the child, the amount in the account can reach several million rubles.
While a fully family-friendly product is being worked out, the Russian Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with the association, is developing a "children's PDS" for an accelerated launch with the prospect of launching the program in 2026. It provides for the possibility of opening separate personal income tax accounts in the name of children with separate co-financing in the amount of up to 24 thousand rubles per year.
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