Mutual funds, 10m euros richer last month

The value of mutual funds” assets in January grew by around 10 million euros (36.4m RON), exceeding the 100m-euros mark, indicating a rise of small investors” interest in collective placement bodies.

The asset increase was primarily due to the influx of new money coming from investors onto the market, with the net value fluctuating around 6.7 million euros (24.4 million RON), according to data released by the National Union of Collective Placement Bodies (UNOPC). The number of investors reached 72,500 after rising by over 1,500 in January, the biggest monthly increase registered since May 2005. Most new investors chose funds with placements in equity.

“The attractiveness of mutual funds with investments in equity rose as interest rates offered by banks shrank markedly. This tendency has been manifesting as early as last year, when many investors took their money out of banks and placed it in riskier investments to maintain the same yields. Investors will continue to focus increasingly on equity and diversified funds, given these have the potential to offer real positive yields, while the performances of funds investing in fixed income instruments, which are correlated to monetary market interest rates, will continue to yield negative results,” Razvan Rusu stated, a portfolio manager with Certinvest investment manager.

Therefore, investors” money in January flowed toward equity funds, which in January posted net inflows of 9.3 million euros, while funds investing in fixed income instruments posted net outflows standing at 2.6 million euros.

Mutual funds in January registered a 3.6% average yield, 3 times the inflation rate, which last month stood at 1%. The highest yields were again offered by equity funds, with an average 8.2% increase, amid the positive growth of the Stock Exchange in the first month of the year. The BET index in January gained 23%, while SIFs climbed by 13.6% on average.

Intercapital equity fund, managed by Certinvest, had the best performance in January, with a 10.2% yield. Intercapital has considerable placements in Petrom and BRD stock, which brought some of the biggest increases in January. Second came Omninvest, managed by SIRA, with a 9.8% surge, followed by Napoca, the equity fund belonging to Globinvest, with a 9.5% growth.