Suprema, Hansa Investment leading sectors

  • 2003-06-05
  • Baltic News Service
TALLINN

On the basis of consolidated aggregate earnings, Suprema Securities was the market leader in Estonia's investment sector in 2002 with a 37 percent share, according to the just published yearbook of the Financial Inspectorate.

Still, though still significant, Suprema's market share has decreased from 46.5 percent a year ago.

The market share of Lohmus, Haavel & Viisemann dropped from 32.9 percent in 2001 to 31.6 percent last year, while Trigon Capital boosted its segment from 13.7 to 24.6 percent.

Compared with 2001, investment companies' results in 2002 were weaker on the whole, according to the Financial Inspectorate.

The sector's aggregate earnings were nearly halved, decreasing from 174 million kroons (11.11 million euros) to 91 million kroons, while profitability also plummeted, as Estonia's investment companies ended the year with a loss of 19 million kroons.

The Financial Inspectorate said the main reason for the decline was a drop in consulting fees for corporate banking.

Hansa Investeerimisfondid (Hansa Investment Funds) remained the country's largest investment fund manager with a market share of 57.3 percent.

The market share, calculated on the basis of volumes of the funds managed by the company, was almost unchanged from the previous year when it stood at 58.8 percent.

The share of Uhispanga Varahaldus (Uhispank Asset Management) declined from 33 percent to 31.3 percent, while the share of Sampo Varahaldus rose from 6.5 to 6.6 percent.

Total assets managed by Estonia's investment managers amounted to 5.4 billion kroons at the end of 2002.

Due to the launching of the pension reform and associated marketing expenses, the fund managers' aggregate net loss amounted to 18.8 million kroons last year, according to the Financial Inspectorate.

The number of investment funds grew from 20 to 36 over the past year. Of the 16 new funds, 15 are mandatory pension funds.