Only nine out of the nineteen mutual funds to have been operational throughout the entire last year managed to offer their investors a yield good enough to at least cover the 14.1% inflation. Only five out of the nine actually managed to outrun the euro’s growth against the ROL, 17.8%. The mutual fund market has been going through a time of restructuring since mid last year, because of the impossibility of certain companies to continue operating, as well as to the regulations of the National Securities Commission (CNVM), setting minimal requirements for the share capital of the managers and for the net asset of the funds. Most of the funds that failed to outrun inflation are precisely the funds in this category, most of which register a net asset of less than 2bn ROL ($70,000). Analysts feel the decline in the number of funds is not necessarily a bad thing, because this only means shedding the “weaklings”. ZF