Komerční banka opens a special information line on pension reform

Press release

6/6/2012
8:00 AM

Komerční banka has put into operation a special information line at 800 111 124, intended for the pension reform. Clients of the Komerční banka financial group, including Penzijní fond KB, and also other citizens of the Czech Republic can call this number to receive free and complete information about the pension reform and the changes in savings for retirement from 1 January 2013. The new service is fully in line with the policy of high-quality advice that KB offers to its clients.

According to available surveys, citizens’ knowledge of the parameters of the pension reform is still very low. Although the various pension funds are intensively explaining the benefits and parameters of the reform, citizens still have a number of specific queries on how to approach their financial provisions for retirement.

KB’s information line at 800 111 124, dedicated to the pension reform, will be in operation on workdays between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. (outside these hours, an answering machine will record the questions).

At the free telephone number, Komerční banka’s trained specialists will answer questions related to the continued running of the contracts currently in place with pension funds after 1 January 2013, and also very specific questions concerning various situations in life related to provisions for retirement.

“Komerční banka is aware of the responsibility arising from the position of Penzijní fond Komerční banky as one of the largest pension funds in the Czech Republic. We believe that the opportunity, free of charge, to ask questions of a trained specialist on pensions will be beneficial for citizens and that it will help raise the level of knowledge about the pension reform,” said Pavel Jirák, Penzijní fond Komerční banky Chairman and Executive Director.

In 1Q 2012 alone, Penzijní fond Komerční banky signed more than 32,000 new contracts for non-state pension schemes. By 31 March 2012 the number of its scheme members had risen to more than 515,000. The volume of scheme members’ assets under management increased by almost 8% y/y to CZK 31.2 billion, and it therefore continued at the same rate of growth as in the preceding period. Penzijní fond KB is the first of pension funds to publish the growth in value credited to members’ accounts for 2011: the 2.04% p.a. it achieved will be one of the highest growth percentages among pension funds on the Czech market.