The overall value of portfolios held by Stock Exchange investors rose 52% to 11.5 billion RON (2.74 billion euros) last year, with indexes of the Bucharest Stock Exchange recording the highest increases of the last five years. However, the number of accounts opened by investors with brokerage firms rose by just 1.7%, to almost 95,000, according to data provided by the Investors Compensation Fund - the institution responsible for compensating investors if a brokerage firm goes bankrupt. "Last year the overall value of Stock Exchange portfolios rose to a large extent because of the increase in market capitalisation, as well as to new accounts being opened with brokerage firms," said Stefan Chirtu, chief executive of the Investors Compensation Fund. The overall value of these portfolios is the value of shares registered in the accounts opened by investors with brokerage firms, banks or investment management companies, which include investors' placements in futures on the Sibiu Exchange, and even shares bought on foreign markets through local brokerage firms. However, the bulk of portfolios consist of shares listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, whose capitalisation rose by 60% last year, to 92 billion RON (22 billion euros), including Erste Bank shares. In Poland, the market capitalisation amounts to 105 billion euros. The value of broker-managed portfolios, which is in fact the Stock Exchange's free-float, accounts for only 12% of the capitalisation, with the rest being shares held by the majority shareholders of companies such as Petrom and BRD and shares held by voucher holders, following the mass privatisation process.