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Regarding the breakdown of the assets of the aggregated balance sheet of euro area insurance corporations and pension funds, holdings of securities other than shares accounted for 39 per cent of the sector’s total financial assets at end-December 2011. The second largest category of holdings was investment fund shares, which contributed 23 per cent to the total financial assets. Finally, shares and other equity accounted for 12 per cent of the total financial assets.
Turning to transactions in the main breakdowns of the insurance technical reserves, the net equity of households in life insurance reserves decreased by €3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. The net equity of households in pension fund reserves increased by €17 billion in the same quarter, while prepayments of insurance premiums and reserves for outstanding claims decreased by €5 billion.
Regarding the contributions of the two sub-sectors, insurance corporations’ total financial assets accounted for €5,492 billion in December 2011, representing 79 per cent of the aggregated balance sheet of the insurance corporations and pension funds sector, while the pension funds´ total financial assets amounted to €1,488 billion.