Banks see little success in effort to cross sell pension-fund products
The failure has been most duly noted by the Pekao/Alliance pension fund, which had hoped to attract members from Pekao's broad, roughly 3 million strong customer base. The fund could also take advantage of the bank's 640 branches.
What has happened, however, is that Pekao/Alliance's direct selling efforts through its 12,000 agents has been much more effective. The fund has already recruited tens of thousands of members, said Marcin Malinowski from McCann Communications, the fund's public relations firm. But of this number, only 300 fund members have been recruited through the bank's network, sources last week told the Business Journal.
Pekao isn't alone, though. PTE PKO/Handlowy has unofficially admitted it has a similar problem. The fund had hoped to cross sell to the 3 million banking clients of No. 1 bank Powszechna Kasa Oszczzdno¶- ci Bank Państwowy (PKO BP).
Krzysztof Lutostański, president of PTE PKO/Handlowy, refused to reveal how many members the fund has. He did admit, however, that 60% of members have come to the fund only because they were recruited by direct-selling agents. "Only 10% of our activity is being done over the counters, in a bank," Lutostański said.
Companies most familiar with direct selling, namely insurance providers, have gained a lead when it comes to signing up clients. The most successful pension fund so far has been Commercial Union, which has 1.25 million members. The second and third respectively are PZU Złota Jesień, with 860,000 members, and Nationale-Nederlanden, with 850,000 members. Zurich-Solidarni, Norwich Union and Skarbiec-Emerytura have said they have close to 200,000 members
"People don't buy pension funds from the bank tellers, similarly like they don't buy insurance there," said Marek Baran, public relations director at Allianz Polska.
As a result, new funds such as PTE Kredyt Banku said they are not going to employ the same approach. "We are learning from the experience of our competition," said Robert Zizba, president of PTE Kredyt Banku. "And we are going to operate through 10,000 insurance agents."
But Michał Szczurek, president at Nationale-Nederlanden pension fund, warned that it is too early to jump to conclusions as to what does and does not work in the pension game. "We don't know yet how the distribution channels are going to work," Szczurek said. "We will see what will happen as we approach the deadlines."
Clients, after all, could change their minds and start signing up rapid-fire at bank counters, Szczurek said. "We won't underestimate any competition," he said.
Consolidation in the sector is unavoidable, many executives have said, although movement on that front most likely will not begin until next year. Funds must wait to make any move until individuals under
30 years of age - who must choose a fund
- make up their mind.
What has happened, however, is that Pekao/Alliance's direct selling efforts through its 12,000 agents has been much more effective. The fund has already recruited tens of thousands of members, said Marcin Malinowski from McCann Communications, the fund's public relations firm. But of this number, only 300 fund members have been recruited through the bank's network, sources last week told the Business Journal.
Pekao isn't alone, though. PTE PKO/Handlowy has unofficially admitted it has a similar problem. The fund had hoped to cross sell to the 3 million banking clients of No. 1 bank Powszechna Kasa Oszczzdno¶- ci Bank Państwowy (PKO BP).
Krzysztof Lutostański, president of PTE PKO/Handlowy, refused to reveal how many members the fund has. He did admit, however, that 60% of members have come to the fund only because they were recruited by direct-selling agents. "Only 10% of our activity is being done over the counters, in a bank," Lutostański said.
Companies most familiar with direct selling, namely insurance providers, have gained a lead when it comes to signing up clients. The most successful pension fund so far has been Commercial Union, which has 1.25 million members. The second and third respectively are PZU Złota Jesień, with 860,000 members, and Nationale-Nederlanden, with 850,000 members. Zurich-Solidarni, Norwich Union and Skarbiec-Emerytura have said they have close to 200,000 members
"People don't buy pension funds from the bank tellers, similarly like they don't buy insurance there," said Marek Baran, public relations director at Allianz Polska.
As a result, new funds such as PTE Kredyt Banku said they are not going to employ the same approach. "We are learning from the experience of our competition," said Robert Zizba, president of PTE Kredyt Banku. "And we are going to operate through 10,000 insurance agents."
But Michał Szczurek, president at Nationale-Nederlanden pension fund, warned that it is too early to jump to conclusions as to what does and does not work in the pension game. "We don't know yet how the distribution channels are going to work," Szczurek said. "We will see what will happen as we approach the deadlines."
Clients, after all, could change their minds and start signing up rapid-fire at bank counters, Szczurek said. "We won't underestimate any competition," he said.
Consolidation in the sector is unavoidable, many executives have said, although movement on that front most likely will not begin until next year. Funds must wait to make any move until individuals under
30 years of age - who must choose a fund
- make up their mind.
