Pension assets up 30% last year

Total assets managed by the Colombian private pension fund system rose 30% to 26.5tn pesos (US$11.5bn) in 2004 compared to the previous year, Colombia's government informed. The total number of pension fund manager, or AFP, affiliates rose 10.3% in 2004 to 5.7 million due to a drop in the country's level of unemployment. Some 87% of the funds managed by the Colombian obligatory pension system are invested in fixed income. The number of affiliates of the country's social security system fell slightly to 5.7 million at the end of last year. There are six obligatory pension funds operating in Colombia.