On Thursday, 2nd August, two Luminor companies managing pension funds were merged, and henceforward pension capital of Luminor customers in Latvia will be managed by Luminor Asset Management IPAS. Thanks to Luminor being one of the three largest asset management companies in Latvia in terms of the total value of customers’ pension capital, the merger will allow to reduce fees for customers by 15% on average.

“Establishment of Luminor has significantly strengthened our positions in pension asset management, and customers will benefit the most from it. First of all, Luminor offers a wide range of pension products including the new Progressive Investment Plan for the 2nd pillar pension capital, which was launched in April and enables the maximum allowed equity investments. Second, the merger has substantially increased total pension assets under management, which, in turn, will faciliate a decrease in commission fees by 15% on average, hence adding around EUR 600K extra to customer portfolios as of 2019”, says Iļja Arefjevs, Board Member of Luminor Asset Management.

“We will continue serving our customers as before considering their needs for long-term pension savings solutions and assisting them in increasing their wealth at the retirement period. Our priority is to ensure a competitive and customer oriented range of pension products, hence we are planning to take next steps to improve and fine-tune it continuously.”

Luminor pension fund management companies in Latvia started their merging process at the beginning of this year, receiving a permission from the Financial and Capital Market Commission and approval for the proposed merger plan by the State Social Insurance Agency.

The merged companies - Luminor Pensions Latvia IPAS (former IPAS Nordea Pensions Latvia) and Luminor Asset Management IPAS (former DNB Asset Management IPAS), will continue their combined operations under the name of Luminor Asset Management. Both companies delivered highly competitive long-term investment results for their customers in past. As a result of the merger, Luminor Asset Management will benefit from more extensive professional experience and extra resources available, which will be effectively used in pension fund management taking into account customers’ best interests and needs.