Mutual funds rejoice in higher interests

The increase in interests on the monetary market showed in the performance of the Romanian mutual funds last month. Moreover, the slight rise in the quotes on the Stock Exchange improved the performance of the funds investing in shares. The average growth of the open-end investment fund shares was, according to the data provided by the National Union of Collective Placement Bodies (UNOPC), of 1%, higher than in September, when it reached 0.6%. The monthly growth kept below inflation in October again, when consumer prices rose 1.5%. “The interests on banking deposits increased later than those on the interbank market. However, the moment when a fund has the cash to invest at the higher interests on the market is important, as well,” says Andrei Negulescu, marketing and communications manager at SIRA, the company that manages the Foreign Trade Fund. Part of the mutual funds went for investments in municipal bonds as of mid last year. The interest of most of these instruments is variable and calculated every three or six months, depending on the interbank market interest. The bond interests have reacted to this change gradually. The good thing for investors is that whenever interbank interests resume decline, the bond yields will be slower to react, again. ZF