Colombia government financial watchdog reported strong losses in the country’s pension funds over the first half of this year, according to data released recently by the country’s Financial Superintendent.
Yet when the value of Colombia pension funds depreciated by $1.6 billion, according to data compiled by newspaper La Republica, pension fund managers showed little worry.
“We are not facing a crisis of confidence, but market,” assured Asofondos, a pension fund. Munir Jalil, chief economist at Citibank, told reporters at La Republica that a fall in value does not mean that the funds are drying up. These, he says, are relatively small losses on paper.
Financial Superintendent Gerardo Hernandez agrees. Despite the fall in value of the funds, he believes the losses are little to worry over, as the fall in value is compensated by strong growth over the past several years.
“It is important to note,” Hernandez told La Republica, “That it is an accumulation over many years. So far we have had large returns in previous years, [which in turn] offsets these pension losses.”
The Financial Superintendent in Colombia is a regulatory body which regulates and monitors businesses in their financial dealings. It tracks if they are operating legally, where the money comes from and where it is going.
Sources
- Los fondos de pensiones, los que mas pierden con la crisis (La Republica)
- Pension Data, Charts (La Republica)
- Pension Data, Financial Superintendent of Colombia (Superintendencia Financiera)
