THE EFFICIENCY OF A SUPPLEMENTARY OLD-AGE PENSION SYSTEM – THE CASE OF POLISH VOLUNTARY PENSION FUNDS

Abstract

The aim of this article is to evaluate the effectiveness of voluntary pension savings plans in Poland,
based on the principles of operation and rates of return of voluntary pension funds (pol. Dobrowolne
Fundusze Emerytalne, DFE). The selection of those funds from a whole range of solutions available in
the 3rd pension pillar is due to the fact that only this type of voluntary pension saving plan provides
complete and transparent information about the actual investment policy, the composition of
pension investment portfolios, and the achieved rates of return. In order to evaluate the investment
policies and the effectiveness of DFEs, the following research methods were used: a literature
analysis, an analysis of financial data, and basic methods of investment efficiency assessment. The
results of the evaluation lead to the conclusion that despite their adoption of similar investment
strategies, the DFEs have achieved very different values of effectiveness. In the years 2013-2018,
selected funds achieved higher than average rates of return, while others achieved returns that
were no better than the interest rates of standard bank deposits.