- Assets under management of ERSTE-SPARINVEST, the biggest subsidiary of Erste AM, increased by 7.9% to EUR 34bn last year
- Assets under management held by sustainable funds exceeded EUR 5bn for the first time
- As of 31 December 2017, Erste Asset Management (Erste AM) holds assets under management of EUR 63.3bn (+7.4%)
For the fifth time in a row, ERSTE-SPARINVEST, the biggest subsidiary of Erste Asset Management, came in first among the Austrian investment companies last year in terms of assets under management, as reported by VÖIG (Vereinigung österreichischer Investmentgesellschaften), the Association of Austria Investment Companies in its latest market update. Assets under management of ERSTE-SPARINVEST increased to EUR 34bn, i.e. +7.9% or EUR 2.5bn.
Total assets under management, held by the group in investment funds in Austria, i.e. Erste Asset Management (Erste AM) together with ERSTE-SPARINVEST, increased to EUR 39.6bn. “In 2017, our assets under management held in Austria increased by about EUR 2.8bn. At a growth rate of 7.7%, we outperformed the average growth rate of the overall fund market,” as Heinz Bednar, CEO of Erste Asset Management, sums it up.
Bednar: “Investment is something rational“
The fund industry had a good year in 2017. The willingness to invest in funds was up on the basis of the accelerating economy. According to the latest analysis of VÖIG, total assets under management (i.e. held by funds) increased by EUR 8.3bn or 5% to EUR 175.4bn. This sets a new record.
The sentiment on the capital markets, which was positive across the board, laid the foundation for this development. “In spite of political tensions, we are looking back on a successful year 2017 on the stock exchanges. The upbeat sentiment helped the performance. Investors recognised the opportunities in the riskier asset classes and put the positive market environment to good use by investing in funds. Investment has always been something rational, and our success is just one of the results of this fact,” as Bednar explains.