Due to small investors, the ranking of brokers changed last month. “As foreign investors did not come [to BVB], the ratio of Romanians was higher, which also led to a drop in trading values in January,” said Petru Prunea, President of brokerage company SSIF Broker, one of the companies with the highest number of small investors in Romania.

In January, KBC Securities was the top broker, with a cash flow of €71.4 million. ING Bank Romania’s brokerage division ranked second, with €49.1 mln in brokered deals. The two companies made 20 percent of total BVB cash flow.

Among brokers who rose several positions in the ranking are Vanguard and BT Securities, both with a significant number of small investors, also called “retail investors.” Vanguard climbed eight places, to rank sixth, while BT Securities made it into the top three brokerage companies. SSIF Broker ranks fifth, with €31.6 mln in brokered transactions.

Raiffeisen Capital&Investment, December’s top broker, dropped to fourth place in January, while CA IB Securities dropped five places from December, to 11th place last month.

Stocks worth a total €643.6 mln were traded in January, 20 percent lower year-on-year.