Two years of “European Pension” in Poland. That's how much you could earn

Two years ago, the “European Pension”, i.e. the first Pan-European Individual Pension Product (PEP), was launched in our country. This voluntary form of retirement security allows you to passively invest in ETF portfolios under the tax umbrella. It turns out that Poles are the nation in Europe most willing to use it.

“European Pension”, the first PEPP product from the robo-advisor Finax, was launched exactly 2 years ago. During this time, nearly 7.5 thousand people started using it. people. Savers deposited a total of EUR 38.5 million, and at the end of October the value of their accounts was higher by a total of EUR 6.3 million, Finax reported. The “European Pension” is offered in two variants:

• 100/0 composed of 100% equity ETF funds, the rate of return of which was 36.6% after two years (as at the end of October)
• 80/20, the second one composed of 80% equity and 20% bond ETF funds, where the return reached 31.1% after two years.

– The stock option is chosen by as many as 88% of PEPP participants, which is good news because most of our clients declare they will save for a dozen or several dozen years. It was with this horizon in mind that the PEPP was created – commented Przemysław Barankiewicz, director of Finax in Poland.

Barankiewicz also emphasized that the last two years were exceptionally favorable for the stock markets, which cannot be treated as a rule, much less a guarantee of future results. Commenting on the two-year results of the portfolios, the Finax expert emphasized that the essence of the “European Pension” is long-term, passive investing, which allows you to survive natural market fluctuations and benefit from global economic growth in the perspective of many years.

Poland is the largest PEPP market

Finax was for a long time the only supplier of PEPP products throughout the European Union. Hence, the data regarding its clients completely coincided with the interest in the Pan-European Individual Pension Product in the community. The offer of the Slovak robo-advisor is available in his home country and the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Germany and Hungary.

According to Finax, Poland is currently the largest PEPP market in the European Union. Our country is responsible for 53% of all clients and 71% of assets collected under the “European Pension” from a robo-advisor.

At the end of April this year, a second player appeared on the market – the Cypriot company LifeGoals Financial Services. According to the EU's PEPP provider database, its services have been registered in Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland and Cyprus. However, the company has probably not started acquiring customers yet. She does not provide contact details on her website, and her email address for the press does not work.

What is the Pan-European Individual Pension Product?

PEPP (or PEPP) is an element of the so-called the third pension pillar, which was to be a pan-European response to national savings programs. As in the case of IKE and IKZE, the greatest advantage of PEPP is exemption from the 19% capital gains tax (the so-called Belka tax).

To benefit from this exemption, you must meet the long-term saving requirement. The funds must be withdrawn after the age of 60 (or 55 in the case of persons who have acquired pension rights). In case of early withdrawal, the tax exemption is lost.

The annual limit for contributions to the PEPP is the same as in the case of IKE and is three times the average monthly salary (in 2025 it was PLN 26,019). Importantly, PEPE is independent of IKE and IKZE, which means that you can save on all three accounts at the same time. Thanks to this, much larger amounts can be protected from Belka's tax.

The key difference between PEIPE and IKE/IKZE concerns portfolio management. IKE and IKZE give investors full flexibility – they can independently choose stocks, bonds, ETF funds and other financial instruments. PEPP, however, forces a passive approach – investors can only choose from ready-made investment strategies (model portfolios), without the possibility of independently deciding on the composition of the investment basket.

MM

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