With the government all geared up to open up the pension sector, Dutch financial powerhouse ING Group on Thursday expressed its desire to foray into the long-term savings business but sought easy entry norms.
"We are a long-term player in India and want to contribute to sustainable pension solutions in the country," ING Group's global head of pensions, Jan Nijssen, said during a workshop on pensions, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi.
ING manages long-term savings worth euro 179 billion worldwide and has a banking and insurance arm in India.
Already a host of domestic players including Unit Trust of India, Life Insurance Corporation, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda, Birla Sunlife, HDFC Standard Life and global giants like US-based Principal
Financial Group, Templeton and Merrill Lynch have evinced interest in entering the pension segment.
Amidst indications that the government may limit the number of pension fund managers, Nijssen said there should not be any cap on players as it would stymie competition.
He favoured easy entry norms and a single regulator for both insurance and pension.
The Centre recently indicated setting up a separate regulator for pension sector and is in the process of framing a legislation for the new pension system, which would be a 'Defined Contribution' scheme as compared to the present 'Defined Benefit' scheme in view of its mounting liabilities towards this segment.
