Assets under management drop by 3.9 per cent in Q1 2022

The total value of assets under management (AUM) by Collective Funds declined by 3.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 over the previous quarter, while Management Companies and Undertakings of Collective Investments (UCIs) supervised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission continued rising (CySEC).

According to a quarterly bulletin issued by CySEC, in Q1 2022 total assets under management amounted to €11.1 billion marking a reduction of 3.9 per cent compared with the previous quarter. This is the second quarterly decline in AUM following the marginal decline of 0.2 per cent in Q4 2021. Compared with the first quarter of 2021 assets under management marked an increase of 13.5 per cent.

In Q1 2022 CySEC supervised 322 Management Companies and Undertakings of Collective Investments (UCIs), 235 of which have operations. More specifically, it supervises 206 Externally Managed UCIs, 44 Internally Managed UCIs and 72 External Fund Managers. The total number of Management Companies includes 41 AIFMs, 66 Sub-threshold AIFMs, 4 UCITS Management Companies and 5 dual license entities (AIFMs and UCITS Management Companies).

In terms of the investment policy of UCITS, 84.6 per cent were invested in transferable securities, followed by investments in bank deposits with 8.1 per cent and investments in UCITSs and UCIs with 5.8 per cent. AIFs, AIFLNPs and RAIFs invest mainly in Private Equity with 39.1 per cent while the investment in Hedge Funds represents 11.4 per cent of the AUM, CySEC added.

Total UCIS in operation amounted to 203. Comprising 80.4 per cent of the total AUM, there are 184 UCIs domiciled in Cyprus (12 UCITS, 59 AIF, 58 AIFLNP and 55 RAIF).

Of the total 203 UCIs managed by UCIs Management Companies, 156 invest in Cyprus entirely or partially and €2.5 billion (22.5 per cent) are investments made in Cyprus.

Of the investments in Cyprus, 66.3 per cent were in Private Equity, while 12.4 per cent of the investments in Cyprus are in Real Estate.

The majority of UCITs are Retail Investors (99.2 per cent), while for AIF, AIFNLP and RAIF, 30.7 per cent of them are Professional Investors, 57.4 per cent Well-Informed Investors and only 11.9 per cent Retail Investors.

Regarding the specific sectors that UCIs invested in, during the 1st quarter of 2022, AUM in the Energy sector totalled €346.2m (3.117 per cent of total AUM), while €28.8m was invested in Fintech (0.259 per cent of total AUM), €82.5m in Shipping (0.742 per cent of total AUM), €36.9m, in the Sustainability sector (0.332 per cent of total AUM) and €9m in Cryptocurrencies (0.081 per cent of total AUM).