OTP Capital CEO said about new trends in the development of private pension funds
Private pension funds (PPFs) in Ukraine are increasingly attracting younger participants, focusing on low-risk instruments such as government bonds and bank deposits, while monthly client contributions are reaching record levels.
These and other market trends were highlighted by Natalia Mezhenska, CEO of “OTP Capital” and Chair of the Boards of “OTP Pension” and “FreeFlight” Pension Funds, during the roundtable discussion “20 years of private pension provision in Ukraine”, which brought together representatives of pension funds, industry associations, and the regulator.
According to Mezhenska, while the typical participant used to be over 45 years old, today the average age has dropped to 40.
“The average age of people joining us through our website is about 37. Particularly notable is the growing interest from young people aged 20 to 30. If earlier this was more of an exception, today this group accounts for 15% of all new participants,” she noted.
She explained that this trend is largely driven by the introduction of the digital option to sign pension contracts via the Diia mobile application. Another interesting fact is that 38% of PPF clients work in the IT sector — an industry that primarily attracts young professionals and encourages long-term strategic planning.
Mezhenska emphasized that due to martial law, “OTP Pension’s” strategy has shifted: the fund currently avoids higher-risk instruments such as corporate and municipal bonds. Instead, it prioritizes government securities and deposits.
“The key principle is maintaining the balance between risk and return. Today, there are no attractive market instruments for our clients beyond these options, and we are not willing to take on unnecessary risk in the current environment,” she stressed.
She added that before the full-scale invasion, monthly contributions totaled around UAH 5.5 million, while in 2025 the fund has already reached a record UAH 8 million.
“In February 2022, activity temporarily slowed, but already by March we began receiving new client requests. Since then, the participant base has shown steady growth,” Mezhenska said, noting that client payouts have also been rising.
“We have been operating in the market since 2009, and every year more of our participants reach retirement age. Today, “OTP Pension” pays out an average of UAH 600,000–700,000 to clients every month”.
Looking ahead, Mezhenska underlined that the main goal of Ukrainian PPFs is to build trust, engage more young people, and make saving for retirement a social norm rather than an exception. “This is not only a matter of the financial market — it is about social security, economic resilience, and confidence in the future for every Ukrainian,” N.Mezhenska accented.
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Public Joint Stock Company OTP Bank is a subsidiary of OTP Bank, which is the largest independent Central-Eastern-European banking group. JSC OTP Bank is one of the largest domestic banks, a recognized leader in the financial sector of Ukraine. The Bank provides a full range of financial services to corporate and private customers, as well as to small and medium enterprises. The bank entered the Ukrainian market in 1998, and since then it enjoys a staunch reputation of socially responsible, reliable and stable institution providing its consumers with services of European quality standard.
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