Cyprus assets under management hit €10.7 billion

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) this week reported that the assets under management (AUM) for Management Companies and Undertakings of Collective Investments (UCIs) in the second quarter of 2023 surpassed €10.7 billion.

According to the latest quarterly statistics bulletin issued by CySEC, the regulatory body oversees a total of 334 Management Companies and UCIs, a slight decrease of 0.30 per cent from the first quarter of 2023, but representing a 1.2 per cent increase compared to the same period in the previous year. This includes 224 Externally Managed UCIs, 37 Internally Managed UCIs, and 73 External Fund Managers.

Among the 334 entities, there are 47 Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs), 54 Sub-threshold AIFMs, 3 UCITS Management Companies, and 6 dual license entities that operate as both AIFMs and UCITS Management Companies.

The Total AUM reached €10.7 billion for the second quarter, showing a 0.42 per cent increase compared to the first quarter of 2023. The AUM increase was even more pronounced, at 0.87 per cent, when compared to the same period in 2022.

The UCIs managed by these Management Companies accounted for a Net Asset Value (NAV) of €10.1 billion, with approximately 67 per cent of AUM managed by AIFMs. The AUM distribution showed 14 per cent by AIFMs and UCITS Management Companies, 10 per cent by Sub-threshold AIFMs, 8 per cent by UCITS Management Companies, and only 1 per cent by Regulated UCIs managed by Foreign Fund Managers.

In terms of investment composition, approximately 89.2 per cent of UCITS AUM was allocated to Transferable Securities, 5.5 per cent to UCITSs and UCIs, and 4.2 per cent to bank deposits. As for AIFs, AIFLNPs, and RAIFs, the majority of AUM, 48.3 per cent, was invested in Private Equity, while Hedge Funds represented 9.8 per cent of the AUM. Real Estate investments constituted 9.3 per cent of the AUM, while Investments in Funds of Funds accounted for 9.1 per cent of the total AUM.

Out of a total of 217 UCIs operating, 81 per cent of the AUM is held by 197 UCIs domiciled in Cyprus, with 26.7 per cent of total AUM invested in Cyprus either partially or entirely. These investments amount to €2.8 billion, with 73.6 per cent in Private Equity and 11.1 per cent in Real Estate.

When categorising unitholders, nearly all UCITS investors (98.9 per cent) are retail investors, while AIFs, AIFNLPs, and RAIFs have 68.1 per cent well-informed investors, 18.8 per cent professional investors, and 13.1 per cent retail investors.

Finally, specific sector investments for UCIs during Q2 2023 were in the Energy sector (4.248 per cent of total AUM, amounting to €456.2 million), Fintech (1.009 per cent of total AUM, totalling €108.4 million), Shipping (5.169 per cent of total AUM, with investments reaching €555.2 million), and Sustainable Investments (0.669 per cent of total AUM, equivalent to €71.9 million).