SIF investors are increasingly emphatic about wanting their money

Investment funds, which hold shares in the five SIFs (Financial Investment Companies) have become increasingly persistent in defending their rights, pressuring management of the SIFs to raise dividends, after waiting for years for stake caps to be raised. At stake are tens of millions of euros.

Recently, the management teams of the five SIFs have received a surprise request from the biggest institutional shareholders: to raise dividends distributed from the profit made in 2010 by up to over 70%, with two SIFs, SIF Banat-Crișana (SIF1) and SIF Muntenia (SIF4) introducing the proposals on the agenda, while SIF Transilvania (SIF3) refused to do so, citing non-compliance with legal conditions.

Among the supporters of the proposal are Swedish investments funds East Capital, equity fund ING Romanian Equity and local investment fund STK Emergent, all of which hold significant stakes in the five SIFs. The proposal is also backed by other powerful local investors, such as BT Asset Management and Dumitru Tudor. So, although managers of foreign or local funds are voicing their interest to increase stakes and speaking of their long-term potential, they are no longer willing to let the money that is rightfully theirs to be used by SIF managers in a discretionary manner.