Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

Since demographic problems have appeared, the pension system’s transformation has become an extremely relevant issue in terms of dealing with country’s social security problems. Development of medicine and a better quality of life have caused population aging which is particularly noticed in the developed countries. The problem of an aging population has encouraged scientists and practitioners to actively discuss the issue of social security. Particularly, the importance of a changing pension system has become a concern in regards of ensuring the public welfare. Therefore, the article analyses the sustainability of Lithuania II pillar pension funds using multi-criteria methods. The carried out research has enabled the evaluation and comparison of II pillar pension funds and their performance. The use of multi-criteria methods combining a few funds’ actions defining indicators into a whole have helped to evaluate the pension funds. In addition, it has helped to identify the funds’ operational sustainability and to choose the best fund, emphasizing the most important aspects for each member and shaping the weights of multi-criteria methods’ evaluation. It is important to emphasize that the aspect of reward indicator is significant in the asset accumulation in pension funds because the goal of these funds is to accumulate the biggest amount of asset for the future pension in a long period and not just to protect the money from its depreciation. Finally, it is worth mentioning that this type of a research provides a new perspective on the pension funds’ evaluation in the context of other criteria.

The banking and finance sector is one of the most dynamic sectors that is continuously experiencing most of structural changes. Fast consolidation and concentration of banks globally has evoked active discussions on behalf of scientists and practitioners on the effect gained from concentrating on the efficiency and competitiveness of the banking system, financial and microeconomic stability of countries and economic development. Mergers and acquisitions of the banking sector are mostly encouraged by the target to get more authority in the international banking environment, to eliminate competitors from profitable activity and to strive for additional financial benefit for shareholders, to increase the range of the services provided, to use the resources efficiently, i. e. to create the value for shareholders and to contribute to the development of the financial sector. Therefore, the article analyses the bank mergers and acquisitions of the Lithuanian banking sector; it is assessed whether the bank mergers have created the value for shareholders and (or) the financial system. The research that has been carried out shows that mergers and acquisitions of the banking sector are take placing in order to increase the benefit for shareholders and to strive for the economy; the aspect of financial stability of such transactions appears in a short term and is most commonly inspired by the government. Modern Lithuanian banking sector has been formed by means of mergers and acquisitions; strategic investors helped transitive economy countries to guarantee the stability of the banking sector and to achieve the benefit of the economy of scale. Restructuring of the banking activities, i. e. the performance distribution can be a useful measure in ensuring stable activities of both the financial system and the accepting bank – to acquire a market share and to optimise its performance.