Afores transfer more than five billion pesos to the Pension Fund

One year after the creation of the Pension Fund for Welfare, the Retirement Savings System ( SAR ) made its second annual transfer of resources, totaling 5.61 billion pesos, from inactive individual accounts managed by Afores , concentrating accounts, as well as resources from Infonavit and FOVISSSTE.

According to the National Commission for the Retirement Savings System (Consar), the transfer took place on June 2 and involved 210,000 individual accounts.

Of the total resources, 3.319 billion pesos were under direct management of the Afores (financial savings accounts), 211 million pesos were in concentrated accounts, and 1.531 billion pesos corresponded to housing funds held by state housing agencies.

The Pension Fund for Well-being is a trust managed by the Bank of Mexico that, as of May 30 of this year, had accumulated assets of 47.426 billion pesos.

Consar emphasized that its goal is to guarantee decent pensions for people who contributed for years at low rates and faced high fees before the 2020 reform.

The organization detailed that since its creation, the Pension Fund for Well-being has returned 1.486 billion pesos to 19,289 workers who claimed their savings.

"It should be emphasized that the transferred funds are non-prescriptive, as the worker is the owner of the inactive individual account, in terms of the aforementioned items, and can recover these savings through a repayment process. Since the Fund's creation, 1.486 billion pesos, belonging to 19,289 individual accounts, have been returned to workers who have requested it, which has been possible thanks to the reserve implemented by the Pension Fund for Welfare to address this purpose," the organization stated.

With this second transfer , the regulator added, the federal government strengthens the solidarity scheme that complements the individual accounts system and the Pension for the Well-being of Older Adults, with the goal of bringing pensions closer to the last salary received by workers, up to a maximum of 17,364 pesos per month in 2025.

"Since the creation of the Pension Fund for Well-being, Mexico has a solidarity-based pension system, comprised of the Pension for the Well-being of Older Adults, the Retirement Savings System, and the Pension Fund for Well-being, which guarantees a dignified and well-being life for workers in retirement," said Consar.

Economic slowdown drives withdrawals

Last May, unemployment withdrawals from the Afores totaled 3.178 billion pesos, a nominal increase of 44.7 percent compared to the same month the previous year, Consar reported.

In a context of a slowing Mexican economy, regulator data show that from January to May of this year, unemployment withdrawals from the Afores totaled 14.464 billion pesos, a 17 percent increase in nominal terms compared to the same period last year and a new all-time high for a similar period.

Consar data show that last May, a total of 157,459 workers used their Afore accounts to address unemployment, 40,822 more than those registered in May 2024.

From January to May, 740,157 unemployment benefits were withdrawn by workers with an account, 23,796 more than in the same period last year. Of the total, Coppel, Azteca, and Banamex accounted for more than half of the withdrawals, which together represented 53.8 percent of the national total.

Coppel ranked as the Afore with the most unemployment benefits, with 660.3 million pesos. It was followed by Azteca, with 558.1 million, and Banamex, with 490.9 million. The figures reflect strong pressure on these administrators, whose clients have turned to them in greater numbers to cope with unemployment.

Among the Afores that also reported high amounts, XXI Banorte stands out with 473.4 million pesos and SURA with 366.3 million. Profuturo recorded 251.7 million, while Principal added 140.5 million and Invercap, 167.1 million. Inbursa, for its part, reported 58.2 million.

CT