The net assets of the Bulgarian private pension funds surpassed the BGN 20bn mark for a first time in the history by increasing 5.2% QoQ (+BGN 990m) in the first quarter, according to data released by the Financial Supervision Commission. Q1 growth came as a result of both positive returns and BGN 628m contributions for the quarter. The total number of insured individuals in all 4 types of pension funds was 4.95m at end-March, +0.6% QoQ and +1.5% YoY. The amount of the investments was up by BGN 764m to BGN 18.1bn over the quarter and the uninvested cash added BGN 169m to BGN 1.9bn or 9.6% of the net assets. The investments in government bonds increased by BGN 664m and reached BGN 9.7bn or 48% of the net assets. Corporate bonds added BGN 52m to 7.8% of net assets. Equity investments, however, were down by BGN 7m in the quarter to BGN 6.3bn and accounted for 31.1% of the net assets. Q1 total revenue of the pension insurance companies added 3.7% on annual basis as the income from fees and charges grew 15.1% YoY. The net income of the companies in the sector improved by 16.4% YoY to BGN 27.9m. The annual weighted-average nominal rate of return for the last 24 months period as of end-March was -2.99% for UPF (-3.36% as of end-2022), -1.92% for PPF (-2.13% as of end-2022) and -1.09% for VPF (-1.30% as of end-2022).