Romania's BCR sees private banking clients trading more, up to EUR 400 mln yearly volume

Romanian lender BCR, owned by Austrian Erste, reached a trading volume of EUR 400 million yearly in investment products managed for its private banking clients. The annual value of transactions made by Erste private baking clients is close to the total portfolio value, which is a sign of change in the investment behavior, said Razvan Furtuna, head of Erste Private Banking Romania. The shift in investment behavior was from “keep until maturity' to “available for sale', he explained. Private banking clients chose assets with higher yields, while governmental bonds with an AAA rating offer negative yields in reality, and interest on deposits is dropping. The need for cash on the short and medium term is another reason for the increase in investments in 2012, BCR explains. In the first nine months of this year, the volume of investment products exceeded the weight of deposits and cash managed by Erste Private Banking and offered in Romania through BCR. Clients tend to avoid medium and long term instruments, with high yields and acceptable risk. Bonds are the most important part of the investment portfolios, either traded directly, or via investment funds. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: BCR)