Austrian pension fund assets increased by €830m in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025, according to the Austrian Financial Market Authority.

This growth represents an increase of 2.7 per cent compared to the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, and total pension fund assets under management reached €30.4bn at the end of December.

The changes in assets under management were credited to contribution payments, pension benefits, inflows from newly concluded pension fund agreements and the result of asset investments.

According to the results, the number of beneficiaries and those entitled to benefits increased by 1.08 per cent compared to the previous quarter, reaching approximately 1.13 million people.

Meanwhile, the number of people receiving pension benefits rose slightly to 159,320, or 14 per cent of all beneficiaries. The majority of beneficiaries are therefore still in the savings phase for a pension benefit.

The investment performance declined from +3.32 per cent in Q3 to +2.38 per cent in Q4 of 2025.

Despite this decline, the overall investment performance for the entire financial year remained strong at +4.86 per cent.

In 2025, the combined asset investments of all pension funds achieved a return of 4.86 per cent, including 2.38 per cent in Q4. Over the past 10 years, these funds have averaged a return of 3.45 per cent each year.

Most of the assets managed by pension funds, about 95.21 per cent, are held indirectly via investment funds. The directly held assets include, in addition to balances with credit institutions, loans and held-to-maturity bonds.

Within these investments, the largest shares are in bonds, which account for 31.43 per cent, and equities, which make up 42.21 per cent, of total assets. After accounting for currency hedging transactions, around 32.16 per cent of the assets are invested in foreign currencies.

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