New competitors would arrive in the pension system after the first decree of the reform

As announced a few weeks ago, the government of President Gustavo Petro, through the ministries of Finance and Labor and the entities attached to them, began the tasks of regulating the pension reform, which after its approval in Congress the last semester, found in the regulatory preparation phase prior to its entry into force in July 2025.

In this sense, officials such as Minister Gloría Inés Ramírez, head of the labor portfolio, had stated that the first drafts of the decree would soon be known, which finally happened, since this week the first one was published on the website of the Labor Unit. Financial Regulation (URF) and there the lights of the new competitors that would arrive in the pension market were revealed.

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To date, the Colombian pension system has two major players in the administrative part, which on the one hand is managed by Colpensiones, which is in charge of all members of the medium or public premium regime, as well as those who did not manage to retire and receive aid from the State. On the other side are the Pension and Severance Administrators (AFP), who from next year will have more competition.

Who are they?

The first thing to say is that with Law 2381 of 2024 (pension reform), Colombia will no longer have two regimes and will move to a system of pillars that will be guided mostly by the State, since All workers must contribute to the public regime, administered by Colpensiones.

Despite the fiscal and negative alerts from various social sectors, the Government said that this was necessary, since the reform will guarantee greater inclusion and protection for Colombians in their old age, while diversifying the options available for pension savings. , thanks to the new actors.

According to the draft decree issued by the Government, from now on The Administrators of the Complementary Component of Individual Savings (ACCAI) will be created and will come into force, which will include the AFPs, as well as trust companies, life insurance companies and other non-profit entities.

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According to sources from the Casa de Nariño, with this wide range of options the aim is to promote competition and improve market conditions for affiliates; who will have the proper advice to choose the best alternative.

The articles also say, within the capital and governance requirements For the ACCAI, the new administrators must have a minimum capital of $20,217 million, a value that will be adjusted annually according to the economic dynamics of the country. In addition, it is stipulated that the boards of directors must include representatives of the affiliates, in order to guarantee greater transparency and accountability regarding the money of Colombians.

Pensions

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In all of this, it should be noted that as warned by the Ministry of Labor, it is necessary to move forward as soon as possible in the implementation of this reform, since there is less and less time left for it to come into effect and the Government wants to guarantee that the transition generates the least amount of trauma possible.

Likewise, work is also being done on the modernization of Colpensiones, an entity that will be the protagonist of the new era that is coming for the Colombian pension system after the implementation of the reform and that at this moment continues to leave doubts about its capabilities to serve the large number of affiliates it will receive.