Cyprus Investment Funds Statistics – September 2021

1. The Investment funds balance sheet data: assets table

The total assets outstanding at the end of September 2021, were reported at 8,535.6 million EUR. This represents a 16.1% increase on 7,354.7 million EUR total assets reported at the end of June 2021. This is the third consecutive all-time high recorded, which the Investment Funds team at SALVUS considers extremely insightful as to the state of the Cypriot jurisdiction. The graph in Figure 1 below is telling of how much and how far the industry has grown and is growing.

The number of reporting entities increased to 235 from 224 previously reported. It is important to note that in the last 17 quarter-over-quarter reports there have been 16 increases in the number of investment funds reporting to CySEC and 1 quarter with no change.

Figure 1 below, combines these 2 data sets with

• the y-axis on the left and the bars along the x-axis showing the Total Assets in EUR million, outstanding,
• the y-axis on the right and the line along the x-axis showing the Number of Reporting Entities, at the end of each period.

Figure 1 – The progress of Total Assets in EUR million (bars), outstanding at end of the period and the Number of Reporting Entities (line) from the end of March 2011 until the end of September 2021.

2. The Investment funds balance sheet data: liabilities table

The breakdown of the liabilities on the balance sheet of Investment Funds in Cyprus is reported in 3 categories by the CBC:

1. Loans
2. IF (Investment Funds) shares/units
3. Other liabilities (incl. financial derivatives)

IF shares/units are consistently the majority of liabilities on the balance sheet of investment funds. At 7,422.1 EUR million outstanding at the end of September 2021, IF shares/units amount to 87.0% of the total liabilities of Investment Funds in Cyprus. This figure represents a quarter-over-quarter increase of 14.6%. Loans follow with an increase quarter-over-quarter at 840.1 EUR million outstanding (9.8%) and finally, other liabilities (incl. financial derivatives) amount to 273.4 EUR million outstanding (3.2%).

3. The Investment funds total assets/liabilities, by nature of investment table

The breakdown by nature of investment of the assets/liabilities on the balance sheet of Investment Funds in Cyprus is collected in 5 categories (Figure 2) by the CBC:

1. Equity
2. Bond
3. Mixed
4. Real Estate
5. Other

All categories, except Real Estate, recorded an increase compared to the end of June 2021. This has maintained Other (orange line in Fig.2) as the biggest category ahead of the Equity (red line in Fig.2) category. The handover from Equity to Other as the majority category has been a consistent theme through 2020 until the end of this reporting period. Mixed (purple line in Fig.2) for the second consecutive quarter has continued to hold the 3^rd spot over Real Estate (blue line in Fig.2) which is still the 4^th category. Bonds (green line in Fig.2), reported an increase, and continue their rising trend as the 5^th category.

It is noteworthy that the total outstanding, for the Mixed (purple line in Fig.2) asset class, was recorded at 1,301.3 EUR million. This is a 29.32% increase from the previously reported quarter in June 2021, making it the fastest growing category (percentage-wise) for the 3^rd quarter in 2021.

Figure 2 – The progress of total assets/liabilities in EUR million (bars), outstanding at end of period broken down by nature of investment.

4. The Investment funds total assets/liabilities, by type of investment fund table

The type of investment funds is split into Open End and Closed End.

As shown in Figure 3, the trade of decreasing Closed End investment funds total assets/liabilities continued at a new all-time low of 234.7 million EUR (green line in Fig. 3), while the quarterly increase in Open End investment funds (red line in Fig.3) was equal to 1,191.3 million EUR bringing the total for the category at 8,300.9 EUR million; a new all-time high.

Figure 3 – The progress of the total assets/liabilities in EUR million (bars), outstanding at end of period broken down by type of investment fund.

5. The Investment funds total assets/liabilities, UCITS/Non-UCITS breakdown table

The final table of the Investment Funds Statistics as reported by CBC shows total assets/liabilities for UCITS and Non-UCITS investment funds. The current report, with data up to the end of September 2021, has UCITS and Non-UCITS at 462.7 million EUR and 8,072.9 million EUR respectively. This further widens the consistent gap between UCITS and Non-UCITS investment funds under CySEC.

Conclusion

Once again, the Central Bank of Cyprus’ Q3 report for 2021 has been intriguing. This latest, 3^rd in a row, all-time high of 8.5 billion EUR AUM attests to the jurisdiction’s credentials to continue growing. This growth is in turn expected to support the ecosystem led by the work of the national competent authority, CySEC, and the professional association of CIFA.

We as SALVUS welcome these positive numbers, and once more use them as motivation to work harder and better towards a more complete Investment Funds ecosystem in Cyprus.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you require further information. We will be glad to support you in finding an appropriate solution or answering your questions.

#StayAhead.

Should you be interested to read about relevant topics on the funds sector, feel free to visit our earlier articles:

• AIFMs, UCITs and the Liquidity stress Tests (LST)
• Is it all gloom and doom for hedge funds returns (YTD)?
• The Reasons AIFM, AIF and RAIF come to Cyprus
• The Cypriot AIF: legal forms, types and requirements
• The Cypriot RAIF: substance, requirements and tax
• Cyprus Investment Funds Statistics – June, 2021
• Cyprus Investment Funds Statistics – March, 2021
• Cyprus Investment Funds Statistics – December, 2020
• Cyprus Investment Funds Statistics – November, 2020
• Cyprus Investment Funds Statistics – August, 2020
• Cyprus Investment Funds Statistics – May, 2020
• Cyprus Investment Funds Statistics – February, 2020

The information provided in this article is for general information purposes only. You should always seek professional advice suitable to your needs.