Pension fund to compensate investors for failure to achieve minimum return

Pension fund Bankowy OFE, part of PKO - Handlowy PTE, is to pay back to its customers zl.3.8 million, after failing to achieve the promised minimum rate of return on investment. Representatives of the fund explain that the shortfall was the result of an inaccurate first quarter evaluation of market performance, and of long-term investments not yet yielding fruits. Because the fund's strategy assumes a major part of its portfolio being taken up by stocks, including shares in IT companies, share price fluctuations have a decisive impact on its assets. Despite its problems, the fund has no plans to change the main principles of its investment strategy, since IT companies are consistently profitable for investors. However, over the next three months, in an effort to ensure the minimum return is achieved, fund managers will adopt a slight "deviation" in strategy, as the market situation warrants. (Puls Biznesu, p. 9) K.K.