Fund units first listed

RIGA - Starting April 17, Baltic Index Fund open-end fund units will be listed on the Official List of the Riga Stock Exchange, said the exchange's spokeswoman Ilze Nagla. This is the first investment fund in Latvia listing its units on the stock exchange.

Baltic Index Fund assets are managed by the investment company Baltikums Asset Management, a Baltikums Finance Group company. Baltic Index Fund assets are invested in equities included in the Baltic index composition. Apart from that, assets may be invested in government debt paper, issued and guaranteed by the governments of the Baltic and OECD countries.

"Listing of open-end fund units on the exchange is a logical step in terms of market development in Latvia and a contribution toward establishing a high investment culture," Guntars Kokorevics, president of the Riga Stock Exchange, told journalists. "People, without going into the intricacies of capital markets, will be able to participate in formation of a diversified and safer investment portfolio," he stressed.

Starting from today, the Riga Stock Exchange will publish on its Internet web site www.rfb.lv and daily bulletin the buy and sell price for the fund units, other features associated with the fund, as well as the fund investment strategy. Pursuant to the provisions set forth for open-end funds, the units will be traded directly by the fund.

"By going public the Baltic Index Fund will have stronger supervision. In return, it will gain the opportunity to increase the circle of its investors," Nagla told The Baltic Times.