The index beckoned the shareholders – Newspaper Kommersant No. 61 (7506) dated 04/10/2023

In March, the collective investment market showed the first positive result since the beginning of the year and the best since September 2022. Over the month, citizens invested almost 5 billion rubles in retail funds, more than compensating for the losses of the previous two months. The main beneficiaries of the attraction were the management companies, the shares of which are sold through large banking networks. The latter, against the background of low rates, are interested in the growth of commission income.

The volume of attracted funds in retail mutual funds in March for the first time since the beginning of the year exceeded the amount withdrawn. According to Kommersant’s estimate, based on Investfunds data, the net inflow of funds into open-ended and exchange-traded funds amounted to almost 4.9 billion rubles, while in February about 100 million rubles were withdrawn. This is the highest since September last year.

The main influx of funds in March came from open-ended funds, net attraction to which amounted to 3.3 billion rubles, which is almost five times more than the outflow a month earlier and the first positive result since September.

At the same time, investments in exchange-traded funds tripled to RUB 1.5 billion.

As before, private investors mainly prefer risky instruments – the net inflow into equity and mixed investment funds amounted to 1 billion and 3.7 billion rubles, respectively. against 0.85 billion and 1.4 billion rubles. a month earlier. The increase in attraction to such funds occurred against the background of the rise of the Moscow Exchange index by more than 8.7%, to 2450.67 points per month.

“The growth of the stock market, significant liquidity in accounts and a low rate on deposits are forcing private investors to look for alternative options for protecting against inflation,” says Konstantin Kirpichev, Deputy General Director of RSHB Asset Management for retail business and marketing. Ivan Lavrinenko, investment director at RB Capital, adds that clients have become more relaxed about the “current situation in the country and the world,” which has a positive effect on their investment decisions.

Inflows to money market funds and precious metals continued, with net borrowings amounting to RUB 3 billion and RUB 0.3 billion, respectively. Shareholders took more than 3.1 billion rubles from bond funds, which is almost a third lower than sales in February. “In summer, there is a high probability of an increase in the rate by the Central Bank, which at the moment makes bonds a less attractive instrument than stocks,” says Maksim Bykovets, director of wealth products sales development at PSB.

However, not all management companies (MC) manage to take advantage of the improved market conditions.

MCs that actively use the agency network of banks remain among the leaders in attraction. In March, the top five in terms of attraction were led by MC Pervaya (RUB 3.8 billion), Promsvyaz (RUB 1.2 billion), RB-Capital (RUB 0.8 billion), Alfa Capital “(0.7 billion rubles), “Raiffeisen Capital” (0.7 billion rubles).

Banking groups interested in the growth of commission income are actively marketing mutual funds to private clients as an addition to the basic line of deposits. “The sale of mutual funds allows you to earn commission income, increase the loyalty of your own clients and lure clients’ funds from less efficient competitors,” notes Konstantin Kirpichev. The only exception to the general picture is Alfa Capital, which historically has a large staff of investment consultants and a developed network of digital sales channels.

Managers do not rule out further growth in the Russian stock market and attraction to retail mutual funds. “Russian companies are still heavily undervalued, and the dividend yield this year could reach 10-11%. In addition, the second and third quarters are the peak of dividend payments, which will also encourage investors to invest in mutual funds with the payment of income,” says Andrey Makarov, head of the sales department at Pervaya Management Company. According to Konstantin Kirpichev, the increase in attraction from shareholders will be facilitated not only by growth in the stock market, but also by maintaining low rates on deposits, as well as the ongoing marketing activity of retail banking networks.

Vitaly Gaidaev