ALLIANZ AND ZAGREBACKA BANKA PENSION FUND PRESENTED

ZAGREB, Oct 17 (Hina) - The mandatory pension fund of the German Allianz and the Zagrebacka Banka -- AZ Fund -- will within a fortnight decide on a trustee bank, after which it expects to be given an operation license, Allianz ZB management chairman Boris Galic said on Wednesday at the presentation of the fund. The Allianz ZB, which will manage the AZ pension fund, on September 20 received authorisation from the Croatian agency for the supervision of pension funds and insurance companies (HAGENA), and was registered with the Zagreb Commercial Court on September 27. Stressing that mandatory pension funds would find themselves in a harsh competition, Galic said the AZ fund would take on a leading position. The fund has also announced it will participate in the third (non-mandatory) pillar of pension insurance. The seriousness and great expectations of the new pension society, in which the Zagrebacka Banka has 49 and Allianz 51 percent of shares, are also proven with a high capital stock of 90 million kuna (more than USD10 million), which makes this pension fund the one with the highest stock capital. (hina) lml sb