Despite the prospects of a difficult situation for 2023, members of the fseverance pay You can rest easy, because since the end of last year there has been a significant recovery in the profitability of the resources managed by the AFPs, a behavior that has been transferred to the first month of this year.
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Miguel Largacha, president of the Pension and Severance Fund Administrator (AFP) Porvenir
Time / Courteous
well did you know Miguel Largacha, president of AFP Futurewho said that in a year as challenged as the current one, the main message aims to take care of employment, savings, since workers and businessmen continue to honor their commitments to social security and to building the country through permanent contributions to pensions, severance , health, among others.
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The director, in an interview with TIME, He referred to what is expected in labor matters, the profitability of the funds’ investments and the collection of layoffs this 2023.
With the recovery of employment in 2022, how much do you expect the collection of layoffs to grow in February of this year?
From Porvenir we trust that the collection of layoffs this February 14 will exceed a growth of 10 percent compared to the year 2021, when we achieved a historic collection of 3.9 trillion pesos.
When the economy is doing well, as we saw in 2022, good results are also seen in employment, which is reflected in the contributions that users make to the social security system. It is an encouraging fact that last December the unemployment rate was 10.3 percent (in the last month of 2021 this was found at levels of 11.1 percent).
Another way to create good recovery parameters is that, if 2021 is compared with the year that has just ended, there are 1,640,000 new jobs in Colombia, which leads us to have an employed population of more than 22 million people. .
These signals that we see in the labor market make us from Porvenir we look optimistically at 2023a year that, despite the growth estimates made by the Government, academia and multilateral organizations, looks challenging for all sectors of the economy and in which workers’ savings must be protected and, of course, the Job positions.
more employment is vital
Will a sung slowdown like the one in 2023 make unemployment pick up again and hit layoffs for next year?
As I mentioned earlier, 2023 should be a year to give savings the value it deservesby both employers and workers. It is clear, without a doubt, that those who are employed are not exempt from being laid off. And here the layoffs once again fulfill their main purpose and that is to be a lifesaver in times of uncertainty.
Just last year, more than 753,000 of our affiliates used 1.31 trillion pesos for contract termination, almost a third of what the employers consigned at the start of 2022.
In addition, it must not be forgotten that this benefit also contributes to boosting the movement of the economy, since it allows not only to avoid periods of unemployment, but also to finance important projects such as higher education, the purchase of a home, the fulfillment of mortgage obligations, among other fines established by law.
The main message here, despite projections for 2023, aims to take care of employmentsavings since workers and businessmen continue to honor their commitments to social security and to building the country through permanent contributions to pensions, layoffs, health, among others.
How to make good use of layoffs in a year marked by high inflation?
At Porvenir we have the challenge of continuing to work to promote the financial education of our affiliates to strengthen the culture of savings. We must not forget that layoffs must maintain their main objective, which is to save with a purpose to meet medium and long-term goals. That is, beyond a situation marked by the increase in the cost of living for Colombians.
Second, we call on employers and employees to be our allies and promoters of good practices in the use of severance pay. Remember that it is up to the employee to validate the correct use of this social benefit.
It is important to highlight that at Porvenir we have a severance investment portfolio scheme (short and long term) that allows affiliates to choose the alternative that best suits their expectations and needs.
For example, if you want to improve your home or pay for a university semester for yourself, your children or your spouse, you can opt for the short-term portfolio that allows you to have the money available as soon as it is needed.
But if the goal is save that money as unemployment insurance or for home purchase projects or allocate it for future education projects, we recommend taking the long-term portfolio as it generates greater profitability.
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improves profitability
To what extent can that same local and international situation affect the profitability of the layoffs administered by private funds this year? Was last year’s volatility recovered?
We can say with satisfaction that in the last quarter of last year we registered a significant recovery in returns, and this start of 2023 has also shown us a positive behavior evidenced in the short-term portfolio, attributed to the good performance of bonds and fixed rent. For its part, the long-term portfolio (which must look to the future) reflects an adequate performance of returns.
It is important to emphasize that our vision for portfolio management, both mandatory pensions and severance payments, is long-term, which allows us to overcome short-term economic events.
If this dynamic continues, this year we anticipate better results for the severance pay portfolios of the 5.1 million Colombians who trust Porvenir in this savings.
How much does Porvenir manage for layoffs and how many affiliates do they have today?
Today we have 5.1 million unemployment affiliates, which represents a market share of 54.7 percent. The value of the, at the end of 2022, corresponded to 7.3 trillion pesos in the long-term portfolio and more than 265,000 million in the short-term portfolio.
What are the projections that the Porvenir pension fund has for this year?
We are confident that the industry will maintain the levels of growth in affiliates and assets under management achieved in recent years. In Porvenir, during 2022 we registered more than 797,000 new affiliates in Mandatory Pensions, which led us to reach 11.3 million affiliates in this area.
Good news at the start of the year is that Porvenir exceeded the 202 trillion pesos in managed assets, owned by more than 14 million members. This achievement encourages us to continue protecting and responsibly investing the savings of Colombians, who for years have given us a vote of confidence.
In addition, in recent years we have been preparing ourselves to adequately respond to the requirements of the pension benefit application process. At the end of 2022 we had more than 133,000 pensioners. This year we will prepare to receive more than 80,000 new pension applications and have more than 158,000 pensioners.
In addition to protecting long-term pension savings and inviting Colombians to consciously use their layoffsThe message that we want to give as a company is that we are a key ally so that workers can successfully materialize their housing and education projects, and of course, so that they can have a peaceful retirement.
* The AFP Porvenir is part of the group of companies to which EL TIEMPO Publishing House belongs.