The fund’s annualized return revolves around 16%, 2.5 times higher than the one brought by a leu-denominated banking deposit opened at the beginning of the year.
Without knowing it, the managers of OTP Obligatiuni (the former Balansis) this spring made the best investment decision among all managers of investment funds. They decided to change the investment policy and turn diversified fund OTP Balansis into a bond fund, so that starting March they gradually liquidated the stock holdings in the fund’s portfolio. Balansis’ stock exposure was at around 40% of assets in February, with Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO) as the most important holding. In late June, when the bourse was caught in generalized corrections, stock exposure reached zero.
“We decided to turn the diversified fund into a bond fund because investors are shunning investments in high-volatility funds, such as OTP Balansis. Bond funds are preferred by investors as they are less volatile and less risky,” said Dan Popovici, an investment manager with OTP Asset Management.
The 12.35% return posted by OTP Obligatiuni was largely due to the stock investments operated in the first months of the year and particularly to investments in Fondul Proprietatea stock. The bonds the OTP fund bought starting May preserved the return it registered in the first part of the year.
The second and third positions in the ranking of mutual funds by performance are filled by BCR Obligatiuni, with 5.71%, and Certinvest Obligatiuni with 5.54% in the first nine months. Equity funds, which lost as much as 28.8% in the first nine months, stay at the bottom of the ranking.
The mutual fund segment ended the first nine months of the year with assets worth above 7 billion lei (EUR1.6 billion), up around 30% from the end of 2010. The 60 mutual funds operating on the domestic market had 236,876 investors in late September.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)