Second Pension Pillar: Tomas Announces First Investment in New Rental Housing(2)

Bratislava, 1 July (TASR) - The first investment from Slovakia's second pension pillar worth €60 million will support new rental housing construction, said Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) on Wednesday, adding that further investments worth around €170 million from the second pillar in additional projects are being prepared as well. According to Tomas, this can be carried out thanks to the ministry's amendment to the law on old-age pension savings, which was passed in Parliament with a constitutional majority and entered into force in April of last year. "The amendment finally made it possible also to invest assets from the second pillar in infrastructure projects in Slovakia, be they social-infrastructure, transport-infrastructure or energy-infrastructure projects, or state-supported rental housing projects," said Tomas, adding that investments from the second pillar can now also support the domestic economy and benefit people in Slovakia. "At the same time, the legislation still allows pension fund management companies to decide on these investments at their own discretion, just as they have done to date. Only pension fund management companies will decide where the investments, or rather the savings of savers in the second pillar, will be invested," added Tomas. The Pension Fund Management Companies Association (ADSS) has confirmed investment in rental housing through an alternative investment fund of Tatra Asset Management (TAM), one of Slovakia's largest mutual fund managers. "The TAM Rental Housing Fund is a real-estate fund intended for institutional investors. Its current value stands at €65 million, with a target volume of some €105 million," stated ADSS. "TAM will allocate the capital to residential projects in Bratislava and regional capitals across Slovakia. These projects are predominantly part of the state-supported rental-housing scheme," it added. ADSS views this investment as a first step in assessing this type of project in Slovakia, while also continuously evaluating other initiatives and opportunities on the market. It welcomed the fact that the law on old-age pension savings also sets limits for alternative investments in line with a long-standing position of pension fund management companies that alternative assets should only complement the core investment strategy and not replace it. At the end of the first half of 2026, more than two million people were saving for their retirement via Slovakia's second pension pillar, with total assets exceeding €21 billion. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraphs 5-10 jrg/df