Pension System in Poland: Performance of Pension Funds

Abstract

The significant increase of the old-age-dependency ratio in Poland after the collapse of the centrally planned economy required transformation of the retirement system to adopt it to the current situation. Therefore the essential reform of the pension system in Poland took place in 1999, when the one-pillar – pay as you go system was replaced by the three-pillars system consisting of mandatory, pay-as-you-go pillar; mandatory, fully funded pillar; and voluntary, funded pillar. However problems concerning budget deficit in Poland caused that the Polish government introduced essential changes concerning distribution of the pension contribution between both mandatory pillars and in the pension funds’ portfolio composition in 2011 and 2013. The aim of the research is to analyze the performance of the pension system in Poland in the years 2000-2013. The performance of private pension funds will be evaluated and compared to the “performance” of so-called national scheme.