Equity funds: Without fresh money it's hard to beat the market

Equity funds were the most profitable in the first two months of the year, with yields of up to 8.5%, but since investors lacked fresh money, the funds’ performance is below that of the main stock exchange indexes.

BCR Expert, an equity fund managed by Erste Asset Management, is the top performer in the first two months of the year, with an 8.53% yield, followed closely by OTP Balansis and Avantis funds, with above 7.6% yields. During the same period, the main stock exchange index BET of the ten most liquid shares, rose 11.3%, while the BET-FI index of the five SIFs (financial investment companies) gained 8.2%.

“The yields of equity funds are obtained based on the same volume of assets, considering that some shares in which the funds invested saw declines last month. In order to beat the market, equity fund managers need capital inflows that allow them to adjust their portfolio,” said Dragos Neacsu, chairman of management company Erste Asset Management.