Snezana Ristanovic, the general manager of the voluntary retirement fund Raiffeisen Future, stated that approximately 4,000 people have joined the fund since it started operating in November 2006.
She added that the average monthly contribution to the fund is RSD 5,400 and, thus far, its members have mostly been private citizens.
According to her, all interested citizens who can invest, every month, a minimum of 10 per cent of the minimal gross salary in Serbia, either personally or through their employer, can become members of the fund. The 10 per cent of the minimal gross salary in Serbia in the first half of 2007 amounts to RSD 1,300.
Ristanovic stated that the minimal age when the clients can dispose of the funds is 53, while the maximum is 70, adding that, in case of illness, the clients can access the funds before they turn 53.
Zoran Petrovic, the Vice Chairman of the executive Board of Raiffeisen Bank Serbia, stated that the founding capital of the fund was EUR 1.5 million and that the plans are for the fund to increase capitalisation by another EUR 200,000.
Petrovic also stated that Raiffeisen Bank Serbia recently got the approval from the Serbian Securities Commission for founding its own investment fund and that the only thing needed for the fund to become operational is the licence issued by the National bank of Serbia (NBS).