Since September 7, Kazakhstanis have been able to transfer up to 100% of their pension savings to investment portfolio managers (IPMs). This sharply raises the stakes when choosing a manager: the decision can now involve virtually a person’s entire pension capital.
One year is too short a period for a meaningful comparison. So we look at the longest comparable period for all market participants, from January 2023 through July 2026, or 3 years and 7 months.
❗️Over this period, cumulative inflation reached 42.39%.
▪️Ranking by cumulative return
1️⃣ Centras Securities – 64.07%
Outperformance vs inflation: 21.68 pp
2️⃣ Halyk Finance – 59.37%
Outperformance vs inflation: 16.98 pp
3️⃣ Halyk Global Markets – 56.63%
Outperformance vs inflation: 14.24 pp
4️⃣ Alatau City Invest – 56.24%
Outperformance vs inflation: 13.84 pp
5️⃣ BCC Invest – 52.10%
Outperformance vs inflation: 9.71 pp
6️⃣ UAPF – 45.51%
Outperformance vs inflation: 3.11 pp
▪️What the ranking shows
First and most importantly, every private IPM beat inflation over this period. In other words, pension savings under their management not only preserved their purchasing power but also generated a positive real return.
The dispersion, however, is substantial. There is a gap of almost 12 pp between the first- and fifth-ranked private managers, and more than 18 pp between the leader and UAPF.
The most interesting result comes from Centras Securities. The company has operated in the securities market since July 5, 2004, but its brand is less familiar to the average pension saver than those of managers affiliated with Kazakhstan’s largest banking groups. Yet it delivered the strongest performance over the comparable period.
This is a good example of why choosing an IPM should be based primarily on investment performance rather than brand recognition.
UAPF also outpaced inflation: 45.51% versus 42.39%. But its margin was just 3.11 pp, compared with a range of 9.71 to 21.68 pp for private managers.
Now that Kazakhstanis can transfer up to 100% of their pension savings to IPMs, manager rankings are no longer just reference statistics. Differences in returns directly determine how much purchasing power pension capital can preserve and add over the long term.
This article was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
Tengenomika Telegram Channel
