Assets in Hungarian Investment Funds Up by 7.9%

Assets under management in investment funds increased by 7.9% to HUF 11,351 billion in June, the Hungarian Association of Investment Fund Managers and Asset Managers (Bamosz) told MTI on Friday.

Money market funds received HUF 115 billion in capital, which is a large amount compared to the net asset value, and accordingly, the assets of the category increased by 32.9% in June, the association said.

Bond funds attracted HUF 22.3 billion in fresh capital, which seems low compared to previous months. According to Bamosz, several short-duration and free-maturity bond funds changed category in June, following changes to their investment policies. As a result, the total assets of short-duration bond funds decreased by HUF 47 bn. Long-duration bond funds saw inflows of HUF 54.7 bn, while free-duration bond funds received HUF 14.6 bn. Yields also contributed to the asset growth, but even so the largest asset class only managed a 2.4% increase, they said.

The assets of capital protected funds increased significantly by more than HUF 400 billion, due to the launch of a new fund and category changes, Bamosz said.

Mixed funds lost 21.2 billion in assets, but returns were positive, with the category's assets up 0.9%.

Equity funds saw a smaller inflow of HUF 2.1 billion, but returns were positive, with equity fund assets up 4.5%.

Assets in absolute return funds rose by HUF 44.1 billion. Returns were also positive, with assets in this category up 6.2 per cent to a stable level of over HUF 1,000 billion.

Derivative funds also grew, with assets worth HUF 15.7bn, a significant increase of 62% given the relatively small size of the category.

In real estate funds, HUF 27.3 billion in assets were raised in June. As a result of returns and price movements, net asset value was 2.5% higher than the second largest category.

Commodity funds saw capital outflows of HUF 0.4 billion, but returns were positive, resulting in a 3% increase in assets.

Closed-end funds, which primarily manage the assets of institutional investors, saw inflows of nearly HUF 4 billion, with assets up 3.7% in June.

Bamosz's 25 members manage a total of HUF 14,800 billion in assets, including some HUF 11,350 billion in investment funds.