ANNOUNCEMENT
The level of confidence of Kazakhstanis in the UAPF and the pension system is growing
The results of the annual independent sociological survey were summed up, which determined the level of financial literacy of the population in the field of pension provision and the degree of public confidence in UAPF JSC.
The study was conducted using a telephone survey and a survey of the urban and rural population of 14 regions of Kazakhstan and 3 cities of republican significance. A total of 3,000 respondents were interviewed, including employees 2,085 (69.5%), self-employed 768 (25.6%) and unemployed 147 (4.9%).
A significant part of the respondents (841 or 28.03% of the total number of respondents) is employed in the commercial business, then those who are employed in the manufacturing business - 458 respondents or 15.27% of the total number of respondents. Least of all were those who are employed in the field of science - 62 respondents or 2.07% of the total number of respondents.
The main block of questions of the survey questionnaire consisted of 25 questions aimed at identifying the financial literacy of the population of Kazakhstan in the field of pension provision, as well as determining the degree of trust in the pension system of Kazakhstan and the UAPF.
In general, according to the survey, one can notice a positive trend towards the development of trust both in the country's pension system itself and in the UAPF. In particular, according to the results of the survey, a significant part of the population is of the opinion that the main source of their financial well-being after the end of their employment will be pension savings from the UAPF - 1270 respondents, or 42.33% of the total number of respondents. The second most important, according to respondents, is the state pension - 21.17% of the total number of respondents (635 respondents). 473 respondents or 15.77% of the total number of respondents count on other savings, in addition to savings in the UAPF (the third most frequent answer).
It is important to note that, compared with the results of the study last year, the level of trust in the UAPF has increased. The average level of trust in the Fund is 6.0 points (minimum value 1, maximum 10 points), i.e. results are above average. A year earlier, this figure was 5.4 points. This year, the highest score was recorded in the Kyzylorda region (7.3), the city of Shymkent (7.0) and the Almaty region (7.0 points).
The level of public confidence in the pension system of our country amounted to 5.8 points. Recall that a year earlier, the level of confidence was 5.1 points. In the context of regions and cities of republican significance, respondents living in the city of Shymkent (7.1 points), Kyzylorda (7.0 points) and Almaty (6.9) and Kostanay (6.7) regions had the greatest confidence in the pension system.
The level of financial literacy in the field of pensions was analyzed at two levels: basic and advanced.
Kazakhstanis answered correctly to a significant number of questions on the basic level. Almost half of the respondents - 1,449 people (48.3% of the total number of respondents) - correctly define the function of the UAPF, which is the accumulation of mandatory and voluntary pension contributions of contributors, maintaining individual records of pension savings, and making pension payments from pension savings. Respondents were also well aware of the types of pension contributions and payments.
1,342 respondents (or 44.7% of the total number of respondents) are aware of both the state basic pension payment guaranteed to all citizens of Kazakhstan, and the state labor (solidarity) pension for service, and pension payments from the UAPF at the expense of the employee’s own pension savings, formed from mandatory pension contributions, mandatory professional pension contributions, voluntary pension contributions. The majority of the respondents gave correct answers to the question about the retirement age - 2066 respondents or 68.87% of the respondents. 85% of respondents (or 2,558 respondents) chose the correct answers to the question of how to find out about the status of their individual retirement account.
In total, the coefficient of knowledge of the basic level exceeded 50 percent and amounted to 62%.
For the advanced level, the questions were more difficult. The answers to them were less clear. For example, 40.97% (or 1229 respondents) are aware of the function of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan in terms of trust management of pension assets and investment of pension assets to generate investment income, of which 420 respondents (or 14.0% of the total number of respondents) also know on the possibility of depositors transferring their pension assets to trust management by the Investment Portfolio Manager (IPM). At the same time, 1101 respondents (or 36.70% of the total number of respondents) mistakenly believe that pension assets are invested directly by UAPF JSC.
1457 respondents or 48.57% are aware that pension savings are invested in various financial instruments and are multiplied by investment income. And at the same time, 1543 respondents or 51.43% answered that they were not aware that pension savings are invested and increased at the expense of investment income, or answered that they did not understand finance and investment issues at all.
As a result, the overall advanced level knowledge rate was 27.5%, which is still higher than last year's figure, which was 26.9%.
The survey was also conducted on the channels for obtaining information about the pension system as a whole and the UAPF. Almost half of the respondents tend to receive information (news) through television (1358 mentions/45.3%), a little less - through social networks and instant messengers (1007 mentions/33.6%). The third most common source of information is news and other websites - 644 references/21.5% among respondents. Based on this, the cumulative influence of Internet sources (social networks, instant messengers and websites) is greater than television. Among the Internet sites, the most popular and frequently mentioned source of information was the Fund's corporate website - enpf.kz.
In terms of obtaining information about their savings, the interviewed citizens traditionally choose to contact the UAPF offices in person: 1,191 mentions of respondents or 39.7%. The second most optimal way to obtain information about the status of an individual pension account, according to respondents, is to obtain information through the UAPF mobile application (982 references or 32.7%), a little less than 933 respondents (31.1%) chose the answer option with contacting the Public Service Center , followed by obtaining information through a personal account on the UAPF website (882 references or 29.4%).
A study of the availability of information about the activities of UAPF JSC showed that almost half of the respondents find the process of obtaining information easily accessible to everyone (1481 respondents or 49.37% of the total number of the surveyed population). At the same time, a significant part of the respondents who participated in the survey (1421 or 47.37% of the total number of respondents) believe that the basic information about the activities of the UAPF is clear to everyone. However, 847 respondents, or 28.23% of the total number of all respondents, believe that it takes time to obtain information about the UAPF.
In general, as the study of the level of financial literacy of the population in the field of pension provision has shown, most of the population has basic knowledge of financial literacy in the field of pension provision. At the same time, there is an increase in knowledge at an advanced level.
Independent experts noted that the UAPF should continue further advocacy work, as well as take into account the results of the study in the course of implementing strategic tasks to further strengthen confidence in the UAPF and in the pension system as a whole.
UAPF was established on August 22, 2013, on the basis of SAPF APF JSC. The founder and shareholder of UAPF is the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan represented by the State Institution "Committee of State Property and Privatization" of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Trust management of UAPF pension assets is carried out by the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Since January 1, 2016, the functions of developing proposals to improve the efficiency of pension assets management have been transferred to the National Fund Management Council. In accordance with the pension legislation, the UAPF attracts mandatory pension contributions, mandatory professional pension contributions, voluntary pension contributions, pension payments, individual accounting of pension savings and payments, provides the contributor (recipient) with information on the state of his pension savings (for more details, see www.enpf.kz)