Mexican Pension Funds Report Record 27% Profit Growth in 2025

Mexican retirement fund administrators (Afores) reported a 27% increase in profits during the first 11 months of 2025, reaching MX$14.572 billion. According to data from the National Commission for the Retirement Savings System (CONSAR), this represents the highest profit level since 2020, driven by historic investment returns and a steady increase in mandatory employer contributions.

The sector currently manages 69.38 million individual accounts with total retirement savings amounting to MX$8.29 trillion. The growth in profitability occurs despite a 2020 reform that capped commissions. For 2026, the commission rate is set at 0.54% of the managed balance, down from an average of 0.90% prior to the reform.

Moisés Pérez, a pension specialist and founder of the consultancy Yo Jubilado, said that the growth in contributions to the Afores has resulted in a greater entry of resources into retirement savings accounts. “Thus, the balances of the accounts on which commissions are charged are higher, which compensates for the lower percentage of commission charged,” Pérez said.

Historic Investment Returns

The retirement system recorded historic gains of MX$1.12 trillion from January through November 2025. This figure is equivalent to 16.5% of the total worker savings held at the close of 2024. The Mexican Association of Afores (Amafore) reported that more than 13% of total assets managed were generated as investment returns during this 11-month period.

Amafore reported that over the long term, the system has delivered “average returns of more than 10% in nominal terms and approximately 5% in real terms.” Historically, more than half of the resources held in the system have been generated through investment returns since its establishment in 1997.

Current asset allocation for the system remains diversified:

• 52% in Mexican government debt

• 13% in international variable income

• 12% in domestic private instruments

• 8% in structured instruments

• 7% in domestic variable income

• 3% in Fibras (real estate investment trusts)

• 1% in international debt

• 3% in other assets

Reform Impact and Market Outlook

The 2020 reform introduced a gradual increase in mandatory employer contributions, which rose from 6.5% of a worker’s salary to 9.5% in 2025. These contributions are scheduled to reach 15% by 2030. The commission caps were designed to align Mexican fees with the averages of pension systems in Chile, Colombia, and the United States.

Market performance moderated in November 2025, with returns totaling MX$32.608 billion, a 77% decline from October figures. This shift coincided with mixed performance in U.S. markets, where the S&P 500 rose 0.13% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.51%.

Amafore and market specialists project that returns may further moderate in 2026. Analysts cite a reduced scope for interest-rate cuts and potentially less favorable conditions in global equity markets as primary factors.

The system comprises 10 administrators. Nine are private entities belonging to financial groups such as Banorte, Banamex, and Inbursa, or conglomerates like Profuturo. The only public administrator, PensionISSSTE, distributes its profits among its account holders rather than retaining them as corporate earnings.