“Public pensions, on their own, will likely struggle to ensure adequate replacement rates for workers in the future,” , warned the governor of the Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras.
For this reason, as he said while speaking at the 7th Professional Insurance Conference, the European Union seeks to strengthen occupational pension schemes, so that they function as a supplement to the public system by encouraging long-term savings.
In his speech at the conference titled “Occupational Pensions at the Heart of the European Strategy for Savings and Investments” Mr. Stournaras pointed out that the participation of employees remains limited, while the insurance and investment culture in our country has not yet developed to the extent required. At the same time, the small size of many funds makes it difficult to achieve economies of scale and increases operating costs. For this reason, a coordinated effort is required from all stakeholders, with the aim of strengthening the confidence of employers and insured individuals in the institution.
“With just 27 Occupational Insurance Funds and approximately 55,000 members by the end of 2025, it is clear that the institution is still in an early stage of development, despite the significant prospects and momentum demonstrated by the Occupational Insurance Pillar,” he noted.
Although both assets and technical provisions recorded increases of over 20% compared to 2024, the overall figures remain modest, as assets stood at 621 million euros and technical provisions at approximately 550 million euros for 2025.
He predicted that the Occupational Insurance Funds will play a much greater role in the coming years, both as a pension institution and as an investment pillar, both domestically and at the European level.
