Competition between Erste and Raiffeisen sees mutual funds climb to new highs

Two big Austrian fund managers call the shots on the mutual fund market, with competition between the two becoming increasingly tight, and Raiffeisen Asset Management managing to come very close to the undisputed leader of the last two years – Erste Asset Management, because it bet on investors’ significant appetite for savings in euros.

The mutual funds market has reached 5.454 billion RON (1.26 billion euros) in assets from over 219,130 new investors at the end of November, according to statistics issued by the Romanian Association of Asset Managers (AAF). The 63% rise in net assets and the 55,000 new investors recorded in the last 11 months were mainly generated by managers at Erste Asset Management, market leader with 2.3 billion RON in assets and Raiffeisen Asset Management, no. 2, with 1.98 billion RON in assets under management. More specifically, BCR Monetar, Raiffeisen Monetar, BCR Obligațiuni, alongside euro-denominated fund Raiffeisen EuroPlus, attracted over 80% of the overall 1.88 billion-RON (440 million-euro) net subscriptions in 2010.