SIFs sit on 127m euros

The five financial investment companies (SIF) at the end of August held banking deposits worth 406m RON (127m euros), up 50% from the end of last year, according to the portfolio statement in late August. Banking deposits account for around 3.66% in SIFs’ net cumulated assets, which in late August stood at 3.47bn euros. The majority of SIF deposits are opened at BCR, BRD and Banca Transilvania. SIFs’ cash assets increased in the wake of stake sales operated this year, and also due to the limited investment opportunities on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The problem could become worse with the emergence of pension funds on the market. The largest deposits, worth 124m RON (38.8m euros), were held by SIF Transilvania (SIF3), which also generated the highest income in the first 8 months, 105.1m RON (31.8m euros). However, the highest increase in deposits was posted by SIF Oltenia (SIF5), which holds around 89m RON (28m euros) in accounts opened with BCR, BRD, Banca Transilvania and Raiffeisen, an increase of 152% against the end of last year. SIF Oltenia in the first 8 months derived income worth 31.3m euros, SIF Banat-Crisana holds deposits worth 79.4m RON (24.8m euros), while SIF Muntenia holds around 69m RON (21.6m euros) in bank accounts. The only SIF that saw its deposits shrink was SIF Moldova, which holds 44m RON (13.7m euros) with banks.