Only 5 funds top inflation

The mutual fund shares went up only 0.7% on the average last month, compared with the 1.1% inflation. The domestic currency during the same month lost 1.2% to the euro and 0.4% to the dollar. Only five out of the 21 open-ended investment funds, part of the National Union of Collective Placement Bodies (UNOPC) managed to outpace inflation in March. All five are primarily investing in monetary instruments. The Stock Exchange last month followed a downward trend, which negatively impacted on the shares of the funds. The BET index, which reflects the trend of the shares of the largest listed companies, lost 3% in March, while the two mutual funds investing about two thirds of their assets in shares posted significant losses: 2.5% (Napoca) and 1.9% (Intercapital). The funds investing in shares have new investment opportunities available as of this month. They may buy into SIFs (financial investment companies), as the National Securities Commission (CNVM) agreed that the legal provision prohibiting funds to invest in peers is not applicable to SIFs. Some of the mutual funds have already bought SIF shares. All in all, only 5% of the amounts managed by funds are invested in listed securities, a percentage that has maintained over the last six months. ZF