Investments and portfolio structure of private pension and insurance companies in North Macedonia

Abstract

The financial market in general is where supply and demand for funds are met. In other words, funds saved in the financial market are directed to investments in order to contribute to the economy. In the Macedonian financial market, the banking sector is really dominant but also pension funds and insurance funds have an active role. This research will be studied the distribution of pension funds’ portfolios in the North Macedonian financial market. The global financial crisis in 2008 negatively affected the economies and financial markets of many countries, including the USA and Europe, and the effects of the crisis continued until 2013. This negatively affected the confidence in the financial markets, and the current surplus of funds was directed towards low-risk but fixed or low-yield financial instruments. As of 31.12.2018, fund accumulation in private pension funds amounted to 1.04 billion euros, corresponding to approximately 10 percent of GDP. The total premium production of insurance companies is around 157 million euros, while the GDP ratio of premium production is around 1.5 percent. Funds collected in both sectors are generally used in treasury bills, bank deposits, and stocks traded on the Macedonia Stock Exchange and foreign financial markets.