The assets under management (AUM) of Austrian pensionskassens (pension funds) declined slightly by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, figures from the country’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) revealed.

At the end of 31 March, total assets stood at €28.6m, a fall of 0.5 per cent compared with the end of 2024, because of the volatility seen in the markets following US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

The figures showed that the fall was mainly due to price corrections in equity portfolios, which pushed the investment performance down to -0.8 per cent.

However, Q1 figures are still up when compared to the same period last year: an increase of 5.1 per cent in terms of AUM and an increase of 4.2 per cent for investment performance.

Regarding asset class split, at the end of the quarter, 40 per cent was invested in equities, 32 per cent in bonds, 7 per cent in deposits with credit institutions, 5.7 per cent in real estate and 3.2 per cent in loans.

During the quarter, the number of pension fund beneficiaries rose by 1.3 per cent to 1,114 million, of which 14 per cent or 153,405, were already receiving pension benefits.

In the case of betrieblichen vorsorgekassen (company severance funds), into which all employees in Austria pay under the new severance pay scheme, AUM grew by 1.6 per cent compared with the end of 2024.

Total AUM hit a new record level of €21.5bn at the end of March, despite market turmoil, due to new inflows.

“The lower equity allocation in the pension fund portfolios ensured that the performance decline was limited to -0.4 per cent for the quarter. Pension funds also performed well in a year-on-year comparison, with assets up 11.3 per cent and performance up 2.9 per cent,” the FMA said.

During the quarter, the number of entitlements (including multiple entitlements with several BVKs, e.g. due to a change of employer) rose by 0.4 per cent to 11.26 million.

In pension funds, which must guarantee the capital paid in at all times, a larger proportion of assets under management is invested in bonds (66 per cent) than in equities (15 per cent); other asset classes are of secondary importance, the FMA noted.

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