The stock of fund capital of investment funds registered in Finland grew by EUR 10.6 bn in the first quarter of 2015 and was EUR 96.7 bn at the end of March. Meanwhile, the total balance sheet of the funds exceeded for the first time EUR 100 bn. The most significant part of the fund capital growth, EUR 4.4 bn, was due to price changes in the funds' investments. Behind this development lay, above all, strong increases in share prices in Finland and other European countries. Direct equity investments accounted for EUR 2.6 bn of the price changes. Higher share prices were also reflected in the funds' investments in other funds, where price changes represented a total of EUR 1.3 bn. In addition to price changes, the depreciation of the euro increased the value of investments quoted in other currencies, notably the US dollar, by a total of EUR 2.7 bn. |
Capital stock of Finnish investment funds
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New capital from households Besides value changes, the first quarter of the year also saw significant inflows of new capital, EUR 3.7 bn in net terms, into funds registered in Finland. Most of the net subscriptions, about EUR 1.2 bn, were made by households. In addition to direct fund investments, household capital is also being channelled into funds e.g. via unit-linked policies offered by insurance companies. Viewed by fund type, bond funds clearly collected most of the new investments, EUR 3.4 bn in net terms. Of the new investments made by funds in debt securities, about 50% were in debt issued by financial and insurance institutions, 29% in debt issued by non-financial corporations and 21% in debt issued by general government entities. Besides direct investments in debt securities, the funds channelled capital into bond instruments via investments in other funds. By contrast, in the first quarter, the funds withdrew EUR 0.1 bn in net terms from their equity investments. |
Key statistical data on investment funds registered in Finland, preliminary data |
For further information, please contact:
Topias Leino, tel. +358 10 831 2315, email: topias.leino(at)bof.fi The next investment fund news release will be published on 31 July 2015 at 1 pm. |