Banco do Brasil open pension business grows 68%

Brazil's largest bank Banco do Brasil posted a 68% year-on-year growth in its open pension product business for the third quarter, with 431mn reais revenue (US$146mn), the bank said in a statement. The bank saw a 32.6% growth in terms of number of clients for its entire pension plan unit, Brasilprev, with 1.1 million active clients at end-September. The bank advanced 13.1% in the auto insurance business, with 112mn reais billed in the third quarter. Its prize bonds business, Ourocap, posted revenues of 388mn reais, a 24.4% growth. Prize bonds are a popular savings product sold by Brazilian insurers. For a few years, the bondholder commits to buying a fixed amount of low yield bonds every month, which makes him or her eligible to run for prizes.