Pension Returns in Kazakhstan Nearly Match Inflation

The profitability of pension savings management for the vast majority of Kazakhstanis over the past 12 months (from March 2025 to February 2026) amounted to 11.39% — with annual inflation at 11.7%, Orda.kz reports.

In monetary terms, the total remuneration accrued to the accounts of UAPF depositors reached 2.66 trillion tenge. This refers to savings under the management of the National Bank, which accounts for 99.5% of all savings (or 25.4 trillion tenge). The regulator manages the pensions of Kazakhstanis who have not chosen an alternative private company by default.

The National Bank emphasizes that long‑term pension profitability is a more relevant indicator and should be the focus:

In the medium and long term, a positive real return (exceeding cumulative inflation) on pension savings is ensured. The accumulated investment return since the establishment of the funded pension system in 1998 as of March 1, 2026, on a cumulative basis amounted to 1,192.30%, with inflation over the entire period at 953.36%.

Total accumulated income since the UAPF was established (in 2014) has reached 10.83 trillion tenge, accounting for 41.7% of the payment structure to depositors.

As of March 1, 41.86% of savings under National Bank management are invested in Kazakhstan's government debt, 20.33% are under external management by foreign investment banks: HSBC, Prudential, UBS, Blackrock and others. Another 10.16% of funds are invested in government debt and corporate securities of issuers from developed countries (USA, Korea, Sweden, Hong Kong) and international organizations. 5.67% are invested in assets of developing countries.

Of the total, 59.76% are denominated in tenge, 40.24% in dollars. There are currently no investments in euros, yen or pounds.

The National Bank’s current profitability is significantly higher than a month ago, when it stood at 9.74%. This was the second‑lowest result among all managers — only Halyk Finance was worse at 8.96%. Centras Securities (16.72%) was the leader at the end of January.

Until recently, five private managers operated in the market: Alatau City Invest, Halyk Global Markets, BCC Invest, Halyk Finance and Centras Securities. On March 27, it was announced that Tansar Capital, owned by former high‑ranking employees of the National Bank and Kazakhstan Stock Exchange — Erzhan Agibaev and Eszhan Birtanov — had been added to the list.

Original author: Alexey Afonsky

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