Banca Comerciala Carpatica intends to enter the mutual fund market this year by launching a diversified fund at first.
The mutual fund market stood at some 136 million euros at the end of April, but specialists expect it to exceed 1 billion euros in the next 3 to 4 years.
Carpatica managers have approved the start of the actions to establish an asset management company and the project to launch a diversified fund to invest on both the monetary and capital markets. The launch of the fund will be done in no more than one year, Carpatica representatives say.
"The decision to enter the mutual funds market is due to the fact that the market is very small at the moment and has a very high development potential. We want to reach our clients with another type of product, aimed at investors with a greater appetite for risk," stated Alexandra Mitrea, the head of the capital market department of Banca Carpatica.
She did not say, however, what the management company will be called and how much money Carpatica will invest in the fund it is to launch.
Three banks have entered the mutual funds market lately: HVB Bank through CA IB Asset Management, as well as Banca Transilvania and Banc Post though Eurobank Mutual Funds Management. BCR and BRD, the largest players on the market have in turn launched new funds. All the five banks have invested significant amounts of money in the funds they launched, currently controlling over 70% of the market.
The main advantage of Carpatica is the developed territorial market, which exceeds 160 branches at the moment. The bank intends to expand its network to over 200 branches by the end of the year. To that end, Carpatica has recently released a public bond offering worth 40 million RON (11.3 million euros), which could be upped to 70 million RON (some 20 million euros).
andrei.chirileasa@zf.ro
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