Mutual investment funds fell in the fall – Newspaper Kommersant No. 206 (7407) of 11/08/2022

The outflow of funds from retail mutual funds (PIFs) resumed. In October, investors withdrew 4.5 billion rubles from them, almost half as much as a month earlier. Retail investors sold both conservative bond funds and risky equity funds, with shares in both categories slipping heavily in September. Investments in money market funds grew, providing, albeit small, but profits.

After four months of growth, private investors again began to reduce investments in retail mutual funds (OPIFs and BPIFs). In October, according to Investfunds, the net outflow from them amounted to almost 4.5 billion rubles, which is almost half the amount observed in September (8.4 billion rubles). The funds showed a negative balance for the first time since May, when it reached 11.3 billion rubles. Over the following months, the funds received almost 17 billion rubles, so so far the outflow does not look catastrophic.

Collective investment market participants attribute the situation to the large losses of funds in September. According to Investfunds, out of 113 large retail funds (OPEIFs and BPIFs with assets over 500 million rubles), only three made a profit. Losses on 85 funds were double-digit, and the worst 12 depreciated investments of shareholders by 20-28%. This happened against the backdrop of a collapse in the Russian stock market, caused by news of the partial mobilization and annexation of four territories (see Kommersant on September 24).

Against the backdrop of continuing tensions in October, says Yevgeny Gorbunov, Head of Products, Marketing and Technology at Otkritie Management Company, clients continued to approach investments with all caution and, if possible, were ready to fix small losses.

First of all, investors left bond funds, which were in high demand in previous months. According to the results of October, clients of such funds took about 3.4 billion rubles. The flight is due to the fact that the clients here were conservative investors, for whom even short-term drawdowns are painful. According to Investfunds, such mutual funds showed a decrease in the value of a share by 1-6%.

Less significant outflows came from mixed investment funds (outflows of about 1.2 billion rubles) and shares (more than 0.9 billion rubles), which sank more in September. Such investments depreciated last month by 6-28%. “Clients investing in stocks have become more cold-blooded and less willing to record double-digit losses,” says Andrey Makarov, head of sales at Pervaya Management Company.

The best dynamics among mutual funds was shown by money market funds. According to Investfunds, clients invested 785 million rubles in such funds over the month, while in September 688 million rubles were withdrawn from them. Such funds earn mainly on reverse repurchase transactions, and therefore are not exposed to market risk. In September, their shares of funds rose by 0.6%. “We see demand for conservative instruments, which, apparently, is due to the desire of investors to reduce portfolio risks against the backdrop of rather high volatility in the stock markets,” says Viktor Bark, director of asset management at Alfa Capital Management Company. More than 114 million rubles. investors invested in precious metals funds.

Market participants are looking at the immediate prospects with cautious optimism. First of all, inflows are expected to bond funds. According to Andrey Makarov, in the ruble debt market, investors still have the opportunity to “jump into the last wagon of double-digit returns.” “We took the surge in market yields amid the events of late September as another opportunity to form good portfolios of debt instruments and actively communicated this information to our clients,” says Viktor Bark.

The market hopes that after the October growth of the Moscow Exchange index by almost 11%, the interest of private investors in equity funds will also recover. The low base effect can be a good starting point for recovery, believes Alexander Dorozhkin, head of equity management at Ingosstrakh Investments, but “without solving geopolitical problems, this should not be expected, it is worth preparing for a difficult and difficult year.”

Vitaly Gaidaev