Mexico’s Afores See 49% Profit Growth, Highest Since 2013

Mexico’s pension fund administrators (Afores) posted a 49% increase in profits during the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, reaching record highs since CONSAR began tracking the data.

By the end of May, combined net profits for the Afores totaled MX$6.3 billion (US$332 million), the highest level registered for this timeframe since 2013.

Mari Nieves Lanzagorta, Vice President, Mexican Association of Afores (Amafore), explained that the spike in profits largely reflects a statistical effect caused by significant investment gains in May. The Afores recorded capital gains of MX$175.5 billion that month—the largest since August 2024.

She noted that Afores are required by law to hold financial reserves to cover any losses from investment regulation breaches. These reserves are invested like other managed assets and vary with market fluctuations.

“The large gains in May’s reserves show up as net profit, but this is just an internal shift within the reserves,” Lanzagorta said. She added that gross profits and commission income provide a clearer picture of Afore performance.

Commission income also hit a new record, rising 13% year-over-year to MX$16.1 billion during the first five months of 2025, according to CONSAR.

A 2020 pension reform capped the commissions Afores can charge, based on averages from pension systems in the United States, Chile, and Colombia. This reduced the average commission rate from over 0.80% in 2021 to 0.57% in 2022. For 2025, a further cut to 0.55% was approved— the lowest in the system’s 28-year history.

The reform also raised employer contributions to worker retirement accounts gradually, from 5.15% of salaries in 2021 to 9.51% in 2025, with a goal of reaching 15% by 2030 to improve pension outcomes.