|
EBRD confirms commitment to Czech capital markets with major equity investment in mutual funds led by management group SIS
Building on its pledge to support development of capital markets in the Czech Republic, the EBRD today signed a framework agreement to invest up to CZK 345,000,000 (ECU 9.8 million) in two mutual funds operated by a leading Czech investment management group, Sporitelni Investicni Spolecnost, a.s. (SIS), a subsidiary of Ceska sporitlena, a.s..
The EBRD will take up to a CZK 186,000,000 (ECU 5.3 million) stake in the SIS's Sporobond Fund, specialising in Czech government and corporate bonds, and up to CZK 159,000,000 (ECU 4.5 million) in the Sporotrend Fund, specialising primarily in equities listed on the Prague Stock exchange.
"The EBRD's investment will contribute to the creation of a stable environment for mutual funds and send a signal to retail investors that such funds are a strong alternative to deposits," said Kurt Geiger, Co-Director of the EBRD's Financial Institutions Team. "The project will help mobilise local savings and foster change in Czech capital markets by bringing SIS products in line with EU regulations."
The two funds operated by SIS will offer retail customers in the Czech Republic the opportunity to buy locally managed investment products as an alternative to, or in combination with, bank deposits. Fund investors will have increased flexibility to manage their savings by linking Sporobond or Sporotrend investments to Giro accounts of the Czech Savings Bank (Ceska Sporitelna, a.s.), and may switch deposit accounts to the mutual funds.
The statutes of the Sporobond and Sporotrend Funds, approved by the Ministry of Finance in November 1997, have been specifically structured to follow the main principles of EU mutual fund regulations. SIS's first money market fund, Sporoinvest, launched in mid-1996, has already attracted more than US$ 30 million (ECU 34 million), and will be joined in the SIS mutual fund family by Sporobond and Sporotrend.
To date in the Czech Republic, the EBRD's investments total ECU 491.8 million in 28 projects with private sector operations accounting for more than 70 per cent.
|
