20.10.2025
The new LHV PIA price list, which is valid from today, will eliminate all purchase and sales transaction fees for those saving independently in the II pillar. As a result of the amendment, automatic investments in index funds can be made in the II pillar at almost half the price of solutions mediated by management companies, which makes LHV PIA the cheapest solution in Estonia.
Vahur Vallistu, Chairman of the Management Board of LHV Varahaldus, pointed out that the Pension Investment Account (PIA) is part of the II pillar scheme and LHV PIA offers a good alternative for investors for whom low fees are the most important. ‘There is no need for a fund manager to invest in an index fund as it is a 100% automated process with no active portfolio management component,’ he said. In other words, the person who is saving their II pillar in an index fund has no reason to pay the fund manager for a few clicks, which they can easily do themselves. ‘Being your own portfolio manager, it’s a smart move to set up automatic monthly investments in the index fund of your choice. This way, the II pillar investor can enjoy fees that are nearly two times lower than the most favourable pension fund in Estonia at the moment’, Vallistu said.
Today, more than 183,000 Estonians are saving their II pillar in index funds. Vallistu admitted that the idea of investing independently in the II pillar may seem strange at first, but is actually affordable for everyone. With just a small time investment, you can create a portfolio that is very similar to the popular index funds offered on the Estonian pension market and similar to the lifecycle funds for younger people in terms of equity risk. Yet, the fees are up to half as much. ‘If you are saving your II pillar in an index fund, it is definitely worth considering taking control and setting up automatic investments yourself. Lower service fees leave more money in the hands of the person saving, meaning that more funds can be channelled into the II pillar. This, in turn, can mean thousands of euros in additional savings for retirement over a long period of time’, Vallistu said.
Sander Pikkel, Head of Investment Services at LHV, said that the pricing of LHV PIA is simple and offers maximum transparency to clients. ‘From 1 January 2026, only a 0.09 % administration fee plus VAT will apply to foreign securities. Thus, the total cost of the investment consists only of the administration fee charged by LHV and the fee of the index fund itself, both of which are very transparent’, Pikkel said. At the same time, the administration fee of LHV PIA for investing in index funds is 2–3 times lower than for index funds operating on the market, who call it the management fee.
According to Pikkel, the aim of LHV PIA is to offer the most advantageous solution for people saving their II pillar in an index fund. ‘Investing II pillar assets in broad-based index funds is gaining popularity and we want the Estonian people to be able to do it as affordably as possible’, Pikkel said. He explained that the rationale of an index fund is to get a share of the rate of return of hundreds or thousands of securities by purchasing a single security, in order to hedge the risks associated with the selection of individual stocks. ‘An index fund is one of the simplest investment products, and so it should be easy to invest your own II pillar assets in them independently’, said Pikkel.
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