It is only slowly becoming clear what the share pension planned by Finance Minister Lindner should look like. But there is already massive criticism. The Greens group refers to the fate of a Norwegian equity fund, the German trade union federation is bothered by the idea of investing pension contributions.
As more details emerge about the planned stock annuity, the debate about the project is heating up. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner said that the planned investment fund for the stock pension should initially be filled for 15 years and could then have an effect in the statutory pension system for the first time at the end of the 2030s. The DGB expressed criticism of the project in drastic terms.
The share pension is intended to help stabilize the statutory pension insurance system. A fund is planned, the funds of which will be managed by a public foundation and invested as profitably as possible. Many details of the project are still unclear; the government has not yet passed a draft law.
This year, the federal government is making ten billion euros available for the fund's capital stock. The FDP politician Lindner reiterated his view that far more money was needed: "One-off ten billion does nothing. It has to be permanent," he said in a discussion with students from the private Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. Lindner spoke of a "savings phase" of 15 years, during which the fund should be filled with at least ten billion euros a year. No money will be withdrawn during this time. In this way, "a return of more than three or four percent" can be achieved and in the end the fund is worth a "significant three-digit billion euro amount". At the end of the 2030s, the fund could then achieve such high returns through its investment strategy that this corresponds to one percentage point of the pension contribution rate.
The Green Group expressed skepticism. The plan to "stabilize pensions in Germany in 10 to 15 years by investing in the capital market" harbors "high risks" in the current difficult economic environment, warned parliamentary group leader Andreas Audretsch. He expressly referred to the loss of more than 150 billion euros that the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund reported for 2022. This is "a warning signal for the debate about stock pensions," explained Audretsch. "We stand by the coalition agreement, but are unwilling to experiment with financing statutory pension insurance."
The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) was much more critical. The fact that shares are necessary at all to make the statutory pension future-proof is "realistically unrealistic pessimism," said board member Anja Piel of the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung". Lindner wants to drive employees into the arms of the private insurance industry. Piel also criticized statements by Lindner, according to which money from the pension contributions could also be put into the stock pension fund in the medium term. "If the finance minister continues to dream of gambling with contributors' money for his share pension project, he can wrap himself up warmly," she said, threatening "bitter resistance from all trade unions." Lindner said in Frankfurt that he was interested in a voluntary solution. He could imagine that the contributors "participate individually" in the fund.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christoph Meyer accused the trade unionist of faulty reasoning. "Positions like those of the DGB clearly show that irrational, irrelevant action is the number one risk of poverty for German society," he explained. The stock pension will be managed by "the well-established and trusted Kenfo," the nuclear waste disposal fund. Corresponding investment guidelines would then also apply.
"Anyone who speaks of 'speculation' or 'gambling' in connection with stock annuities not only reveals their ignorance, but also a lack of foresight for the necessary reforms," judged Meyer.
