18 November 2003 00:01
Managing companies welcome Interfax intent to rate their reliability
MOSCOW. Nov 18 (Interfax) - The agreement between the Interfax Rating Agency and the Russian Pension Fund on the
formation of a system of objective evaluations for managing companies and non-government pension funds will increase the
transparency of the market for pension savings, the leaders of major managing companies believe.
On November 14, the Pension Fund and Interfax Rating Agency signed an agreement for rating managing companies on the
basis of official reports received by the fund from the managing companies. Moody's Investors Service, an Interfax
Rating Agency shareholder, will offer technical backing to the project.
The managers polled by Interfax believe that objective ratings calculated with the backing of a recognized Western
agency will help individuals choose among institutions to which they can entrust their savings. In addition, such
ratings will also promote the standard of operations of players on the market.
"This is a very correct step," vice president of NIKOIL managing company Natalya Plugar said. The ratings
relying on official reports "will put a barrier to the current ratings and rankings relying on information supplied
by the managing companies themselves that is not always truthful," she said.
Managing companies welcome the involvement of the pension fund in the project. "This means that the fund is
interested in the public getting the most truthful information about managing companies helping them to evaluate their
reliability," Plugar said. Currently, the public is very poorly informed about the managing companies and people
often cannot choose to whom they can entrust their savings.
Andrei Uspensky, general director of Pioglobal Asset Management company, believes the involvement of Moody's
will help develop a recognized and reliable system of evaluation.
"It is wonderful that Russian managing companies will be evaluated with the help of solid Western technologies
that have stood the test of time. Moody's methodology has been used for many years and tested in many
markets," he said.
The formation of a system of evaluating managing companies in addition to raising the standard of public awareness
will set certain standards in the operations of companies promoting the further development of the market, Uspensky
said. [RU EUROPE EEU EMRG AAA] ml tj <>
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