The net inflows amounted to RON432 million (about EUR100 million) in the first quarter, close to the level in the first quarter of last year, RON578 million. Compared with the last quarter of 2011, when investors withdrew RON280 million in net amount from mutual funds, the first quarter shows a visible improvement in investor sentiment.
The first quarter of the year is no different from that of the previous years. The funds that target investors with a low appetite for risk continued to attract the most money. A key factor in their success is that most of them are managed by the asset management divisions of various banks so their units are sold by the branches of the parent bank, which gives them an advantage over the independently managed funds.
Money-market funds raised RON305 million from investors, followed by bond funds with net inflows of RON123.2 million. The balanced funds, which are riskier because they invest part of their assets in shares, saw RON1.7 million withdrawn, while withdrawals from the equity funds, which invest most of their assets in stocks, amounted to RON2 million, even though the stock market indices gained up to 30% in the first three months.
The funds with the highest net quarterly inflows are money market fund Raiffeisen RonPlus – RON111.4 million, BCR Obligatiuni (BCR Bonds) – RON91.1 million, and money-market fund Raiffeisen RonFlexi – almost RON91 million, according to the Association of Asset Managers.
Surprisingly, an equity fund, Piscator Equity, managed by independent company Atlas Asset Management, raised RON14 million in the first quarter, while other equity funds saw low inflows or even withdrawals. The six investors in this fund include the mandatory private pension fund managed by Allianz-Tiriac, with RON1.7 billion in assets.
At the bottom of the ranking are BRD EuroFond, a fund that invests in money market instruments and bonds, which saw RON4 million withdrawn in the first quarter and equity investment funds Raiffeisen Prosper and Raiffeisen Benefit, with RON2.2 million and RON1.7 million withdrawn.
The performance of RonPlus and RonFlexi turned Raiffeisen Asset Management into the largest manager, with more than RON3 billion in assets managed.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)