Investment funds are the fastest growing segment of the Serbian financial market
The President of the Securities Commission, Marko Janković, stated that investment funds are the fastest growing segment of the domestic financial market in the past few years, managing 1.5 billion euros, of which 100 million euros are under the management of alternative investment funds.
Amendments to the Law on Alternative Investment Funds, which the National Assembly adopted on Wednesday, reduced the minimum investment amount of individual investors for closed alternative funds from EUR 50,000 to EUR 10,000, and Janković believes that this will lead to an increase in the number of investors.
“We currently have 55,000 investors in the total fund industry. “The aim of the amendments to the law is to enable a wider circle of investors to access that market in an easier and simpler way,” Janković said.
Amendments to the Law on Alternative Investment Funds introduce the term “semi-professional investor” for those investors who make a one-time investment of at least 5,000 euros.
Investment funds represent the joint saving of money by a large number of investors with the aim of investing in accordance with a predefined investment goal and policy of the fund.
Alternative investment funds are also investment funds, but they are not limited to traditional investments in stocks, bonds or money funds, but include investments in real estate, raw materials, venture capital and other investment opportunities.
Investors, according to Janković, can invest in open investment funds with a public offering without any restrictions in the form of a minimum stake.
Passive income from investments
“For the past five or six years, we have been creating a legislative framework that is fully aligned with European regulations. We have four open alternative investment funds with a public offering, which is perhaps the most attractive for citizens at the moment, since they provide easy and simple access to a certain segment of the financial market in which it would be difficult to invest independently,” he said.
He adds that the returns in the fund industry itself, over the past few years, justify investors’ trust. “Until now, we have not had a single situation in which one of the investors was not paid when they wanted to withdraw their investment,” Janković pointed out.
When asked what benefits investors get, Janković says that the main advantage is the lack of need to actively deal with their investment.
“Each company for managing alternative investment funds and investment funds in general has within its framework professional and licensed professionals who manage investments on behalf of the fund, and consequently also on behalf of its investors. Thus, investors receive a passive income from investments, because they do not deal with the management of their portfolio, but entrust it to licensed professionals,” Janković explained.
He adds that it is they who make decisions on the financing of funds from the aforementioned funds.
Control of investment funds
When it comes to controlling the work of investment funds on the Serbian market, Janković emphasizes that it is the responsibility of the Commission for Securities.
“The Securities Commission organizes the entire process of education, passing and licensing for all professions of people working in our capital market. We control and make sure that they behave fully in accordance with the law, as well as protect the interests of their investors,” he explained.
Janković emphasizes that investment funds are the most represented on the market of the United States of America, which is also the most developed financial market in the world.
Alternative investment funds raise money through a public or private offer, and can be established as open or closed, depending on whether there is a right to purchase investment units, or shares or shares from the fund’s assets at the request of fund members.
Source: Euronews, Tanjug
Photo: Freepik, Pixabay
Source: bizlife.rs
