Photo: ITAR-TASS

The problem of admitting pension savings managers to IPOs will be resolved before the fall. Deputy Minister of Finance Alexey Moiseev spoke about this at the exchange forum. According to him, the Ministry of Finance received relevant instructions from the president and prime minister.

Currently, management companies cannot, during an IPO, buy securities that are not included in the highest quotation list of the Moscow Exchange using citizens’ “pensions.” The requirement for non-state pension funds to break even at the end of the year also prevents the purchase of these shares. If they “go into the red”, then the funds will have to compensate for the losses from their own funds.

At the end of March, the government supported the proposal of the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Financial Markets Service to distribute losses among the accounts of clients of non-state pension funds (see RBC daily dated March 29, 2013). The reform of quotation lists is also in its final stages (see RBC daily dated 03/28/13).

Simultaneously with the admission of pension savings managers to IPOs, according to Mr. Moiseev, a two-level system of guarantees will be adopted. “It implies the creation of an internal guarantee reserve by each non-state pension fund to pay pensions at least at par,” explained Rostislav Kokorev, deputy director of the corporate governance department of the Ministry of Economic Development. If the NPF goes bankrupt, he explained, the pensioner will receive money from the Russian Pension Fund, which will have its own guarantee fund.

The head of the Federal Property Management Agency, Olga Dergunova, told forum participants that about 30 blocks of shares in the largest companies are being prepared for privatization through placement. “The Federal Property Management Agency is considering the Moscow Exchange as a location,” added Ms. Dergunova.

“Based on the results for the first quarter, the Moscow Exchange entered the top ten among the world’s largest exchanges for IPOs,” the head of the site, Alexander Afanasyev, boasted to the audience. “Although during this period there was only one placement of shares - the Moscow Exchange itself,” he added. Co-head of Sberbank CIB Ruben Vardanyan responded by saying that there is currently no IPO industry as such. A truly significant result, in his opinion, will be if the Moscow Exchange manages to remain in the top ten with a hundred placements per quarter. “Now is not the season for IPOs,” Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Sergei Shvetsov joined the discussion.

Optimism for buying shares for pension savings is not shared by the President of the First National Pension Fund, Vitaly Plotnikov. The share of shares in NPF portfolios, according to his assessment, in any case will not exceed 20-30%. “In any case, during an IPO, each issuer will be checked by the risk management of the NPF and will make a decision on this matter,” concluded Mr. Plotnikov.

Pensions will be allowed for IPO