Top of mutual funds in terms of number of investors

Mutual funds in late June reached almost 200,000 investors, double from the end of 2008, but still far from the peak of 2000, ahead of FNI collapse, when the number of investors topped 340,000. The three biggest mutual funds on the market, BCR Monetar, BCR Obligaţiuni and Raiffeisen Monetar, have over the past year and a half managed to attract more than 87,000 new investors, coming to hold 105,000 clients together, more than half the overall market. By comparison, the number of active accounts on the Bourse revolves around 95,000, down from 2007, which points to a rising popularity of mutual funds against stock investments. The past year and a half has been the best period for the mutual fund market, but the increase has been particularly triggered by the soaring interest of large banks, BCR, Raiffeisen and BRD, in promoting their investment products through their own banking networks. The three funds dominating the market are low-risk ones, with placements in banking deposits, bonds and T-bills. They were the main growth drivers for the market, which went from assets worth 940m RON (260m euros) in late 2008 to over 4.6bn RON (1.09bn euros).