The performance of 2023 was strongly impacted by the decrease of the net asset of Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO) as a result of granting special dividends to its shareholders from the proceeds of the initial public offering for the shares of green energy producer Hidroelectrica (H2O.RO).
However, the total number of investors in mutual funds climbed from 549,894 at end-2022 to 677,745 on December 31, 2023, which translates into an increase of 127,851 participants (+23.3%). The estimates of the Bucharest Stock Exchange show that the number of accounts opened at the local capital market neared 170,000 in 2023.
Most open-end investment funds have exposure on bonds (50.9%), followed by equity funds (19.7%), other local funds (16.1%), diversified funds (12.8%), with the rest being covered by absolute return funds.
The assets of the largest mutual fund managers in Romania (over 90% of the market) grew by 17% in 2023 vs. 2022, to RON20 billion. The total value is way behind the record high touched in 2021, of RON25 billion.
The only asset management companies reporting asset increases from 2021 until 2023 were Patria AM and Goldman Sachs AM. Erste AM kept the top spot in 2023 too, with managed assets of RON4.3 billion, up 10.4% on the year, but 25.5% below the 2021 level, in line with calculations by Ziarul Financiar (ZF) daily based on data from AAF.