Portugal ETFs boom

PwC’s annual report Global Funds Distribution which studies the distribution off cross-border funds – meaning the sale of funds in more than one country – shows that the pandemic does not seem to have slowed the growth of cross-border funds, particularly in Portugal.

The segment grew by 14,128 products in 2020, 0.7% up on 2019, to a total of 128,520 funds, 5.8% more than in 2019.
One of the interesting conclusions from the study, according to Funds People, is that Portugal is the European market that saw the greatest increase in the number of new fund registrations (749) in 2020. According to PwC this growth is mostly down to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
ETFs have become popular with traders and investors in recent years because they provide access to a wide range of assets including stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate.
In Portugal investor demand for ETFs was high and 637 were registered in the country in 2020.
Furthermore, the study also shows that in terms of fund domiciles, most of the cross-border funds registered in Portugal are in line with the rest of Europe.
The two largest markets in Europe for domiciled funds are Luxembourg (1937) and Ireland (1382) respectively. There are some funds domiciled in Jersey, France, the UK and Germany too.
In terms of cross-border distribution of the funds, Luxembourg held 56.5% (1937), but Portugal was the top market in Europe in terms of the total number of new registrations (749).
From the distribution markets Portugal had investments from funds domiciled in Luxembourg (1,937), Ireland (1,382), France (32), Jersey (125), UK (38), Germany (3), other countries (13).
In fact 70% of the 100 largest fund managers that sold their funds in more than one domicile have a presence in Portugal.