However, it has not managed to beat the banking interest. During the same interval, a banking deposit would have brought a gain of around 30%.
Launched just several months before the collapse of stock exchanges in the autumn of 2008, the fund has however managed to protect the 4.7 million lei (EUR100 million) investments it attracted from 300 clients against market corrections.
The Bucharest stock exchange lost around 30% in the June 2008-June 2011 period. Had the bourses increased, investors could have cashed in as much as 15% per annum, above the interest rate.
“The fund’s assets were invested in banking deposits. Part of the cashed-in interests were used to pay for the performance of a derivative backed by a basket of 20 stocks from Western, Central and Eastern European companies,” said Dan Popovici, an investment manager with OTP Asset Management.
“In the first year, the fund delivered a fixed 12% share of the initial value and in the second and third year, as stocks slid, it delivered no share. At the end, investors repurchased at the June 2011 the units they bought in August 2008 and also a plus of 2.85%,” said Popovici.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu; Editing by Radu Bostan)