Financial markets are about far more than banks. They also include insurance companies, brokers, dealers, investment funds, portfolio managers, and market infrastructure. For ordinary savers, however, the purpose of this ecosystem is straightforward: preserve purchasing power and, ideally, grow wealth over time. Pension savings are perhaps the most important part of that equation because they ultimately shape living standards after retirement.
In Kazakhstan, pension assets are held within the pension system managed by UAPF. At the same time, contributors have the option of transferring a portion of their savings to private investment portfolio managers (IPMs). The mechanism does not guarantee higher returns, but it allows individuals to choose different investment strategies and risk profiles, potentially improving long-term performance.
As of April 2026, total pension assets under management amounted to KZT 25.7 trillion and were distributed as follows:
I. UAPF – KZT 25.6 trillion (99.6% of total assets)
II. Halyk Finance – KZT 59.7 billion (0.23%)
III. Alatau City Invest – KZT 17.0 billion (0.07%)
IV. BCC Invest – KZT 13.5 billion (0.05%)
V. Centras Securities – KZT 8.3 billion (0.03%)
VI. Halyk Global Markets – KZT 7.3 billion (0.03%)
VII. Tansar Capital – KZT 49.4 million (effectively 0.00%)
Combined, all private portfolio managers oversee roughly KZT 105.9 billion, equivalent to just 0.41% of Kazakhstan’s total pension savings. In other words, while contributors have the freedom to choose an external manager, the mechanism remains used by only a very small share of the market.
The broader macroeconomic backdrop is equally important. Inflation remained in double digits in April 2026, reaching 10.6%. In such an environment, pension performance should ultimately be assessed over longer periods and measured against inflation-adjusted returns rather than nominal gains alone.
Annual pension fund returns as of April 2026:
I. UAPF – 8.57% (2.03 percentage points below inflation)
II. Centras Securities – 17.60% (7.00 percentage points above inflation)
III. Alatau City Invest – 12.59% (1.99 percentage points above inflation)
IV. Halyk Finance – 10.71% (0.11 percentage points above inflation)
V. Halyk Global Markets – 10.26% (0.34 percentage points below inflation)
VI. BCC Invest – 8.91% (1.69 percentage points below inflation)
Centras Securities’ leadership is not accidental. Its portfolio is more heavily concentrated in domestic assets, including quasi-sovereign issuers, commercial banks, corporate bonds, and a relatively limited allocation to equities and ETFs. This positioning allows the manager to capture current tenge-denominated yields more effectively while reducing exposure to negative currency revaluation effects.
UAPF itself identifies the main reason behind weaker performance since the beginning of the year: negative currency revaluation resulting from the appreciation of the tenge against the US dollar, from KZT 505.53 to KZT 462.91 per dollar. The fund’s asset allocation stood at 61.64% in tenge and 38.35% in US dollars. During the reporting period, UAPF also purchased $501.7 million on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange to maintain its strategic foreign currency allocation near 40%, consistent with its long-term diversification framework.
The results highlight an important reality for pension investing. Even high-quality international assets can deliver less impressive outcomes when measured in tenge if currency movements move against foreign holdings. As the tenge strengthens, the local-currency value of foreign assets declines, creating a drag on overall portfolio performance. UAPF explicitly identifies this effect as the primary driver of returns in early 2026. Against that backdrop, strategies with a larger allocation to domestic fixed-income instruments have appeared more competitive over short- and medium-term horizons.
Tansar Capital deserves separate mention. The company began managing pension assets on April 8, 2026, and currently oversees a symbolic KZT 49.4 million. At this stage, its portfolio size is too small to carry meaningful market weight. Nevertheless, the arrival of a new participant is a positive development for the industry, and the company should be given time to build both expertise and trust among contributors. Its first full-year performance record will only become available next year.
More broadly, the IPM segment still leaves the impression that much of the educational effort is being carried out not by portfolio managers themselves, but by independent analysts and media platforms. In practice, it is often public reviews and market commentary that explain to contributors how investment strategies differ, where returns come from, and why performance diverges across managers.
By contrast, many portfolio managers remain relatively quiet despite overseeing assets that play a critical role in people’s financial futures. Regular and accessible analysis is limited. Public communication often falls short of the responsibility associated with managing retirement savings. Systematic explanations of investment strategy for retail contributors remain rare.
This naturally raises a broader question: do portfolio managers truly view pension mandates as a strategic priority, or do some regard them primarily as a box-ticking exercise that establishes market presence rather than a business line worth actively competing for?
Another indication may be the fact that some managers appear significantly more focused on promoting other investment products, such as mutual funds, than on their pension mandates. As a result, pension asset management, which should arguably serve as the ultimate showcase of investment expertise and long-term discipline, often receives less public attention than products with shorter investment horizons. Yet retirement savers arguably need transparency, communication, and regular engagement more than any other group of investors.
For my part, I chose to use the transfer mechanism and moved a portion of my pension savings to one of the private managers. As promised, I will continue to monitor the market and track performance trends as a longer statistical record becomes available.
This article was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
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