Net assets of capital-protected funds in Belgium, in 2014, rose by €1.11bn, or 10.3%, according to the Belgian Asset Managers Association (Beama). “The slight increase of assets under managment (AUM) in structured products is most likely due to an increase of the underlying asset, but also due to a decline in interest rates,” said Hugo Lasat (pictured), chairman of Beama. “Both have had a positive impact on structures consisting of derivative instruments.”
The trend has continued during the first two months of this year, according to Lasat, although he is not sure how long this will last. “To assume this will continue is hypothetical and I fear we will see some corrections during the course of the year, depending on the impact of the first interest rate rise in the US for example,” he said.
The AUM of capital-protected funds in Belgium remained stable in the fourth quarter, at €11.9bn, with the majority of outstanding assets (€9.51bn) linked to equities, €2.4bn linked to interest rates, loans and currencies (€2.35bn in euros and €50m in other currencies),
Eighteen capital-protected funds with a sales volume of €504m struck during Q4 2014, according to SRP data, with a total of 63 capital-protected funds worth €2.6bn added with KBC as the sole provider last year. Of these, just six funds protected full capital, with the remaining 57 protecting 90% or less.
The best-selling fund in 2014 was the US dollar-denominated KBC EquiPlus 90 Timing Step Up USD 1, which collected $143.6m (€126.9m) in subscription.
Issuance and sales of capital-protected funds have dropped significantly since 2010 when the 145 funds issued collected a combined €4.7bn. Back then, BNP Paribas Fortis, BPost Bank, Centea and Dexia AM were amongst the issuers. Current market conditions have forced many providers to momentarily halt their issuance.
The AUM for the Belgian fund sector as a whole increased by 4.5%, under the impulse of significant net subscriptions, supplemented by gains achieved by the underlying assets, according to Beama. At the end of 2014, net assets for public funds distributed in Belgium stood at €141.6bn, an increase of 20.5% from the start of the year.
Mixed funds achieved the largest gains during the fourth quarter of 2014, while pension funds further strengthened their historic record levels, said the association.
According to Beama, the net asset value of funds that invest primarily in fixed income securities increased during the fourth quarter of 2014 by 4.3% while the net asset value of the funds that invest primarily in non-fixed income securities increased by 4.5% during the same period.
Click the links to view the Beama report Q4 2014 (Dutch/French).
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