Investments in funds up €1.5Bn

Investment funds in Portugal enjoyed a positive year in 2023, recovering part of the losses suffered in 2022.

Assets under management exceeded €18.6Bn at the end of December, up €1.485Bn on 2022 according to data from the Portuguese Association of Assets and Investment Funds (Associação Portuguesa de Fundos de Investimento, Pensões e Patrimónios). (APFIPP)
“On 31 December, 2023, the value of assets generated by collective investment organisations increased to €18.616Bn, reflecting a growth of 1.8% on the previous month, while looking at the evolution since the start of the year, there was an increase of 8.7%,” states the APFIPP in its monthly report.
After a period marked by a wave of quite significant redemptions (cash-ins), first in the global financial crisis, and then the sovereign debt crisis, the funds industry has recovered in recent years.
Only 2022 was an exception because of an exceptional situation in the financial markets with the devaluation of shares and bonds.
Last year was a positive year because of the strong performance of various asset classes. Nevertheless, it was not so strong as 2021 when the post-pandemic recovery saw Portuguese funds post records both in the level of assets under management and capital inflow.
The growth seen in 2023 was down to the positive performance of the funds themselves leading to an increase in assets of 8.7% and the volume of investment in these applications. Despite the net balance of subscriptions being negative in December, the year as a whole was positive.
In December, the volume of subscriptions was €252 million, while the volume of redemptions stood at €328.5 million — a negative balance of €141.3 million.
Regarding assets, after two difficult years for funds commercialised in Portugal (2021 and 2022), last year saw recovery for most of these funds aimed at small investors with positive returns, and eight out of 10 managing to buck inflation.