Responsible pension saving with Pricos Defensive

Pricos Defensive enables you to save tax efficiently for your pension. In other words, saving for later also gives you the potential to earn a tidy tax break. Saving tax efficiently means you could pay up to 30% less tax on the amount you save each year. Whether you qualify for that benefit and how large it is depends on your personal situation. With Pricos Defensive, you can start putting money away from as little as 10 euros a month.

Any taxpayer under 65 who wishes to earn tax relief can set aside money for their retirement¹ by investing in our Pricos Defensive pension savings fund. If you start pension saving as soon as you start earning an income, you'll be able to save for many years and build up some savings to fall back on when you retire. However, pension saving can also offer benefits to those who have been working for a number of years.

If you've been saving for your pension with Pricos, it's useful to know that you can switch to Pricos Defensive at no cost. Such a move may appeal to you if you want to reduce your exposure to the stock markets.

Pricos Defensive is a mutual fund (pension savings fund) under Belgian law that is managed by KBC Asset Management NV. It aims to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in a mix of shares and bonds. At present, there is a bias towards bonds. The assets of a pension savings fund must be allocated within certain legal limits. For instance, no more than 75% of the assets may be invested in either bonds or shares, while no more than 10% may be held in cash. In addition, no more than 20% of its assets may be denominated in a currency other than the euro. The fund has been granted a derogation to invest more than 35% of its assets in securities or money market instruments that have been issued or guaranteed by Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands or France.

The fund promotes a combination of environmental and social characteristics, but does not aim to invest in economic activities that contribute to achieving environmental or social targets.

To ensure the fund retains its socially responsible character, the issuers (such as companies and governments) are subject to a double screening procedure. The screening is performed by a specialised research team from KBC Asset Management and a group of independent experts. The fund may not invest in assets issued by entities that are excluded on the basis of a number of criteria, including those relating to tobacco, gambling, weapons, fur & exotic leather and adult entertainment. The research team also compares governments with each other and companies from the same industry group using certain SRI (Sustainable and Responsible Investing) criteria.

For companies, these criteria relate to:

• the environment
• society
• corporate governance

For governments, the criteria relate to:

• economic performance
• socio-economic performance
• health
• equality and freedom of the population
• the environment and international relations

The fund may only invest in assets issued by entities that are among the best-in-class in their group according to these criteria. Based on the best-in-class criteria, only the top 80% of companies in each sub-sector are eligible for investment. The fund's aim has been to invest in socially responsible assets only since 11 November 2021. It means that the fund may temporarily have very limited investments in assets purchased before 11 November 2021 that do not meet the above criteria. The fund manager will replace the assets concerned with socially responsible assets as quickly as possible, always taking into account the sole interest of the investor. You can find further information under ‘Strategy selected’ in the prospectus and at www.kbc.be/investment-legal-documents > Exclusion policies for socially responsible investment funds.

The minimum term is 10 years. If you start saving on or after your 55th birthday and want to benefit from a favourable tax rate, you will have to wait 10 years before dipping into your pension pot. You can always withdraw your savings earlier, but you'll be taxed at a penalty rate of 33%. The fund has no maturity date.

Pricos Defensive is a pension savings fund that currently invests more in bonds than shares. This makes any capital you've accumulated less vulnerable to fluctuations on the stock market. However, there's no minimum guaranteed return and no capital protection.

The net asset value can be found at www.beama.be (in French). You can also use our fund finder to look up the latest price and performance data.

You can benefit from tax relief of up to 30% on the amount paid in. In 2023, there are two maximum amounts, namely  990 euros and 1,270 euros.

If you elect to go for 1,270 euros, the tax relief is 25% of the full amount deposited.

If you continue to pay in up to the maximum of 990 euros, the tax relief is 30%. Remember that the tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future. 

Each year you are sent a tax certificate specifying how much you've paid in, which you can then enter on your tax return to claim tax relief.

Started saving for your pension before your 55th birthday?
In that case, you will have to pay a one-off final tax at a favourable rate of 8% on your 60th birthday.

What happens when you turn 60?
Once the one-off final tax has been deducted, you can opt to withdraw your pension savings or keep saving until the year in which you turn 64. If you opt to keep saving, you'll continue to earn 30% tax relief each year on the deposits you make, but you won't have to pay any extra tax.

Started saving for your pension on your 55th birthday or after that?
After 10 years of the contract, you pay a one-off final tax at the favourable rate of 8%.

• You pay a 2% entry charge (0%² if you switch fully from another pension savings fund).
• You pay 1.41% in ongoing charges.
• There are no exit charges. You can withdraw your accumulated capital before the end date of the contract though you may be heavily taxed.
• You do not pay any stock market tax.

The risk  indicator is 3 on a scale of 1 (lower risk) to 7 (higher risk). The summary risk indicator is a guide to the level of risk of this product compared to other products. It shows how likely it is that the product will lose money because of movements in the markets or because we are not able to pay you.
3 reflects how sensitive the various assets in which the fund invests are to the markets. Consequently, the indicator lies between that of a typical bond fund (2) and a typical equity fund (4).
This product does not include any protection from future market performance so you could lose some or all of your investment.
The risk indicator assumes you keep the product for 4 years. The actual risk can vary significantly if you cash in at an early stage and you may get back less.

Moreover, an investment in this fund involves:

• A moderate level of inflation risk: the bond component does not provide any protection against an increase in inflation.

Carefully read the Key Information Document, the fund fact sheet and the Prospectus before deciding to invest in this fund. These documents are available free of charge in Dutch and English from your KBC branch or can be downloaded from www.kbc.be/investment-legal-documents. A summary of your rights as an investor can be viewed there too (in Dutch, English, French and German).

You can submit any complaints you may have by e-mail to complaints@kbc.be, by telephone on 016 43 25 94 or by e-mail to ombudsman@ombudsfin.be.

_{¹ In this publication, 'pension saving’ refers to an investment in a pension savings fund.
² As an investor, you can only open one pension savings account or take out one pension savings insurance plan per taxable period. However, you can hold multiple contracts at the same time. If you already have a contract from a previous year, you can still start a new one. You’re entitled to tax relief on just one of the two (or more) contracts.}