Poland's open pension funds (OFE) have delivered an average return of 30.2 per cent year-to-date (YTD), despite recording a slight decline in October, according to a report from Analizy Online.

The latest monthly report, prepared for the Polish Chamber of Pension Funds (IGTE), revealed that OFEs recorded an average loss of 0.3 per cent in October, with individual fund performance ranging from a gain of 0.4 per cent for Allianz Polska OFE to a loss of 0.7 per cent for Generali OFE.

However, the report highlighted the continued strength of longer-term investment performance, with the average year-to-date return remaining above 30 per cent.

PKO BP Bankowy OFE was the strongest performer since the beginning of the year, delivering returns of 33.6 per cent, followed by OFE PZU Złota Jesień at 31 per cent and Nationale-Nederlanden OFE at 30.8 per cent.

The report also found that Polish OFEs' total net assets fell by PLN 2bn in October, down 0.5 per cent from PLN 370.5 bn at the end of September.

Analizy Online attributed the larger decline in assets relative to investment performance partly to growing transfers from OFEs to Poland's Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), through the country's pension transfer mechanism.

Indeed, while average monthly transfers to ZUS stood at PLN 600m in 2025, the report found that monthly transfers had increased throughout 2026, with the average now exceeding PLN 1.3bn.

Despite the reduction in total assets, the market structure remained broadly unchanged.

Nationale-Nederlanden OFE remained Poland's largest open pension fund, managing PLN 103.3bn in assets and accounting for 27.9 per cent of the market.

Allianz Polska OFE followed with PLN 92.1bn and a 24.8 per cent market share, while OFE PZU Złota Jesień held 13.4 per cent of total assets.

The report also highlighted the importance of domestic equity markets to Polish pension funds, with more than 80 per cent of OFE assets invested in shares of Polish companies.

Commenting on the findings, IGTE president, Małgorzata Rusewicz, highlighted the positive impact of investment returns on members' pension savings.

She noted that, for most fund members not yet affected by the transfer mechanism, the average account balance had increased from PLN 21,000 at the end of 2025 to more than PLN 27,300, representing approximately PLN 6,300 in investment gains.

Rusewicz also highlighted the scale of Polish participation in retirement and investment savings, with 13.8 million people holding OFE accounts, 4.5 million saving through Employee Capital Plans (PPK) and almost 2.2 million accounts held across Individual Retirement Accounts (IKE) and Individual Retirement Security Accounts (IKZE).

She suggested that strong investment performance could help encourage further participation in capital markets, particularly ahead of the planned introduction of Personal Investment Accounts (OKI) in January 2027.

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