The funds administered by Hyposwiss rank second and the Dutch ING group third among top largest foreign portfolio investors on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), which continues to be dominated by the American Julius Baer. According to an analysis made by Business Standard, 25 of the largest foreign investment funds had placements in BVB companies worth RON 775.8 million (some €200 mln) at the end of 2008. The value of share packages owned by funds dropped more than three times compared to last year, especially due to the massive depreciation of Romanian shares, and also because most foreign investors decided to reduce their exposure in Romania. BVB lost 70-80 percent on main indexes in 2008, being one of the markets with the largest drops last year. Although the Julius Baer funds, administered by Artio Global, continued to rank first among BVB’s largest foreign portfolio investors, the value of the shares they own registered a significant decline, to RON 263.2 mln (over €66 mln), compared to some €200 mln in 2007. Most foreign investors with significant exposure in Romania are funds “blocked” on the markets in the region, including Danube Tiger (Hyposwiss), ING Romanian Equity Fund (ING International Advisory), Romanian Foreign Balanced Fund (Alpha Mutual Fund Management), and Roemenie en Bulgarije Fonds (MEI). The funds administered by Hyposwiss had placements on BVB worth some RON 100 mln (€25 mln) at the end of 2008. The main companies in which Hyposwiss invested are Romcarbon Buzau and Antibiotice Iasi. ING had local stock exchange shares worth RON 57 mln at the end of December, and its main shares were Banca Transilvania, Petrom, and Banca Romana de Dezvoltare (BRD). East Capital, which ranked second among top investors in 2007, fell to fourth place at the end of 2008, with BVB exposure of some RON 45 mln.
