Cash no longer king

"Industrial" shares, gold, and the dollar are likely to be the winning investments over the next six months, as well, considering that the problems of the local economy and of the eurozone are far from being resolved, with the danger of inflation putting pressure on yields. One thing is certain: "cash" is no longer king, said analysts queried by ZF.

The first half of the year gave investors enough reasons to be satisfied, despite the spate of negative news coming from Greece and the from the local economy.

On the Stock Exchange, after a forceful beginning of the year followed by corrections, industrial companies such as Cluj producer Arm`tura and Azomure[ fetched almost 50% yields in the first six months of the year. The shares of state-controlled natural gas transporter Transgaz Media[ appreciated by 37%. On the RASDAQ market, Electroarge[ shares were among the most profitable investments, appreciating by 65% in the first half of the year, but overall the RASDAQ market ended the first six months on a decline.

On the other hand, the financial sector, which includes the shares of the five SIFs and the three local banks, managed to disappoint, bringing investors losses of up to 30%, although financial shares had seen a significant rise in the first two months of the year. Among mutual funds, only those which invested in derivatives on external markets managed to beat local stock exchange indexes and generate yields of over 25%, as was the case of Omninvest and Omnitrust equity funds.

Among the most profitable investments in the first half, gold and deposits in dollars brought yields close to those of the most profitable stock exchange shares. The price of gold rose by 35% in six months, whilst dollar-denominated deposits yielded a 22% interest rate in the same interval in the context where investors were exposed to much lower risks than on the Stock Exchange, where the number of declining shares equalled that of rising ones.