Assets under management in Poland expected to reach PLN 619 billion in 2016

WARSAW, Poland - Sept. 29, 2014 - PRLog -- The asset management industry in Poland saw stable growth across all but one segment in H1 2014. Assets of regulated investment funds and assets in voluntary pension plans - pillar III kept growing quickly and reached PLN 203 billion and PLN 15 billion, respectively. Also managed funds of insurance companies (technical reserves) showed positive development climbing to PLN 152 billion, as of H1 2014. In contrast, Pillar II assets plunged by nearly 50% to PLN 152 billion as the overhaul of the second-pillar pension system, in early 2014, resulted in a forced transfer of roughly half of segment's assets to the state-run social security institution. As a consequence, despite positive developments in most segments, the total value of assets under management (AuM) in Poland contracted to PLN 522 billion (€ 124 billion) in H1 2014.

Three large firms: PZU, Aviva and ING remained the key asset managers in the country with a combined value of AuM of over PLN 200 billion. However, most of major asset managers continued to lose market share in favor of smaller and more flexible specialists, growing quickly in market niches. The booming investment fund market in Poland has been drawing attention of global players. In early 2014, Amundi Asset Management set up its own fund management company in Poland while J.P.Morgan Asset Management partnered with a local asset manager – Skarbiec TFI, in order to repackage and customize its funds which will help the company to meet the specifics of the local market.

The asset management industry in Poland is expected to sustain a moderate growth of ~7% p.a. by 2016. New inflows from individual clients will fuel investment fund assets, unit-linked insurance and Pillar III pension plans. One of factors supporting new investments will be exceptionally low market interest rates which are backing up the process of bank deposits conversion. However, the most important growth factor will be constantly increasing wealth of individuals, which has persisted for over 10 last years.  The institutional part of asset management business is also likely to expand in the future although at slower rates than the retail segment. As far as the profitability of asset managers is concerned, Inteliace Research expects that the pressure on margins will intensify inline with the growing number of competing asset managers operating in the market, which eventually will lead to market consolidation around the most efficient players.

For more information on recent developments in the Polish asset management sector, please refer to the publication “Asset Management and Investment Funds Market in Poland, 2014–2016” available at: http://www.inteliace.com/en/00130_Investment_funds_and_asset_management_%20in_Poland_2014.html

About The Report
“Asset Management and Investment Funds Market in Poland, 2014–2016” is the latest full update of the comprehensive publication on the asset management sector in Poland. It describes the present market structure and recent trends in the market and also provides short-term estimates of key volumes for the years 2014 through 2016.

About Inteliace Research
Inteliace Research is an independent consulting company that focuses on the financial markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Inteliace Research specializes in management consulting and custom research services, including market entry strategy, product launch, performance and benchmarking analysis. During 2005-2014, Inteliace Research provided its products and services to more than 60 clients, including major CEE banks and several "The Banker" top world banks. To learn more about the company, visit Inteliace Research's webpage: www.inteliace.com.