Survey: Europeans Have Little Confidence in State Pension Provision

Frankfurt am Main (ots) -

- Cross-reference: The Result Report is available at
http://www.presseportal.de/dokumente -

- Widespread fear of old age poverty
- Majority of citizens in countries affected by the crisis consider
themselves to be thrifty
- Obvious gaps in private pension provision

The majority of Europeans are concerned about their financial
security in old age and have little confidence in state pension
provision. This is the result of a representative survey in eleven
European countries, which YouGov performed on behalf of
"Investmentfonds. Nur für alle.", an initiative of numerous mutual
fund management companies. The results show that 78 per cent of the
over 11,000 Europeans surveyed are concerned about whether the state
will be able to pay their pensions in the future. 69 percent of all
respondents stated that they were afraid of old age poverty. More
than half (57 percent) do feel sufficiently informed about private
pension provision. But a clear majority of 79 percent believe they
need to make more private provisions to maintain their individual
living standard in old age. However, only around a quarter (27 per
cent) of European savers would set aside additional income for
private pension provision.

"The survey shows that the fear of old age poverty is a
Europe-wide phenomenon," said Thomas Neiße, President of the German
fund association BVI, at the presentation of the results in
Frankfurt. "At the same time it reveals that the confidence of
Europeans in pension provisions offered by the state has been eroded
and that there are significant gaps in private pension provision,"
Neiße said next.

Fear of old age poverty especially prevalent in countries affected
by the crisis

The fear of old age poverty is particularly widespread in southern
European countries affected by the debt crisis. In Portugal and Italy
respectively nine out of ten respondents fear old age poverty. In
Greece and France over 80 percent fear old age poverty, in Spain it
is nearly three quarters (73 percent). But citizens' confidence is
also very shaken in countries with strong economies. So, for example,
63 percent of Germans and nearly half (45 percent) of Norwegians fear
old age poverty. In Germany, the fear is slightly less prevalent than
the overall country average (69 percent).

Majority of Europeans consider themselves to be thrifty

More than half of all respondents (62 percent) are not in a
financial position to make private old age provision. This applies
especially to southern Europeans and the French. The citizens of
Greece see the smallest financial scope for retirement savings. 78
percent of respondents there indicated that they are unable to make
private provisions, followed by the Portuguese (75 percent). In
Spain, Italy and France respectively, over 70 per cent of respondents
also share this view. With 58 percent, Germany is just below average.
The Norwegians see the most scope: There, only just below half (45
percent) indicated that they are unable to make any private savings
for pension provision.

Despite this, nearly all Europeans already consider themselves to
be mostly thrifty. Between countries, there is little difference with
regard to the assessment of their own thrift. On average, three
quarters of all respondents said they were "very thrifty" or "mostly
thrifty". In the crisis countries Greece and Portugal, 75 percent and
81 percent respectively are of this opinion. The Germans are in
second place in terms of thrift with 78 percent, behind the
Portuguese. The poorest performers are the Spanish, 40 percent of
whom consider themselves "not thrifty" or "not at all thrifty".

Most Europeans would save additional money

All Europeans also exhibit very similar saving behaviour. If they
had an additional 100 Euro available per month, the majority of the
respondents (65 percent) would be "most likely to save" the money.
This was mentioned in particular by the Portuguese (79 percent),
Norwegians (72 percent) and Dutch (70 percent). In contrast, 42
percent of Germans would "rather spend" the additional income.

Of all respondents who would rather spend extra money, nearly half
(48 percent) would cover current expenses. Of those willing to save,
more than half (57 percent) would keep the money for a necessary
major purchase. Only about a quarter (27 per cent) would save the
money for private pension provision. One in five (22 percent) were
however willing to save extra money for health and nursing costs. If
one adds these savings to private pension provision, a significantly
higher willingness to make private savings for old age becomes
apparent.

Future expectations reflect the current economic situation

However, additional private pension provision will remain
difficult for many citizens. Because only about 30 percent of all
Europeans on average expect "excellent" or "good" economic
developments. The citizens of the southern European countries are the
most pessimistic: In Portugal and Greece, nine out of ten respondents
expect that their country's economic development will only be
"mediocre" to "bad" over the next three years. The Italians and
Spaniards are also mostly skeptical regarding future economic
development. The Dutch and the English are similarly pessimistic. A
more positive outlook for the future is held by the Germans, Swiss
and Austrians. The Norwegians are the most optimistic. 78 percent of
them expect an excellent to good development of their domestic
economy.

About the survey

On behalf of the initiative "Investmentfonds. Nur für alle." the
international market research company YouGov Deutschland AG
established how Europeans handle and approach the topics of money,
savings, financial knowledge and private pension provision. For this,
YouGov questioned a total of 11.268 participants from 11 European
countries (Germany, England, France, Greece, Italy, Norway,
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain) using an online
questionnaire. To achieve representative results, at least 1000
participants per country were surveyed. YouGov collected the data
between 4. February and 26. February 2013.

About "Investmentfonds. Nur für alle."

"Investmentfonds. Nur für alle." is an initiative of the German
mutual funds companies launched in October 2010. Its aim is to
provide information about funds and to demonstrate what they really
are: An investment that is suitable for all - regardless of investor
type, life situation, and plans for the future. The initiative
supports financial advisors with, among other things, an online
knowledge platform with vendor-neutral information and tools on
saving with investment funds. Savers and advisors can find up-to-
date information on the website http://www.nur-fuer-alle.de as well
as on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/nurfueralle), Twitter
(http://www.twitter.com/nur_fuer_alle) and on a dedicated YouTube
channel (http://www.youtube.com/nurfueralle).

Your contact person:
BVI
Rolf Drees
Tel. +49-069-154090-254

fischerAppelt, advisors
Stefanie Dülks
Tel. +49-040-899699-988

presse@nur-fuer-alle.de