Poles, who have pumped money into mutual funds every month for almost three years, will balk at investing more of their savings because of stock market turbulence, according to the country's largest asset manager.

Mutual fund assets, which peaked in July and fell 2.5 percent in August, will remain at about 138 billion zloty ($51 billion) through the end of the year because of the ``very nervous'' state of Poland's stock market, Zbigniew Jagiello, head of Pioneer Pekao TFI SA, said in an interview.

Polish mutual and pension funds represent about a third of all trading on the Warsaw bourse, according to data compiled by the exchange. Poland's benchmark WIG20 Index sank 5.4 percent to a five-month low on Aug. 16 as shares declined worldwide amid concern about the U.S. subprime mortgage market.

The slide in the value of Polish mutual funds, which include investments in stocks, bonds and other securities, was sparked last month by losses on the Warsaw bourse, according to Analizy Online, a Warsaw-based research institute.

A steep rise in the rate of subprime mortgage foreclosures has led to many lenders failing and restricted credit, threatening the health of the global economy.

Pioneer Pekao TFI, which boosted its holdings 27 percent since Jan. 1, cut forecasts for the value of its assets under management for this year.

The company, part owned by Bank Pekao SA, Poland's second- largest lender and a unit of Italy's UniCredit SpA, now expects to have about 30 billion zloty of funds to manage in December, 14 percent less than previously forecast. Pioneer had 29.6 billion zloty to manage as of Aug. 31.

Bank Pekao and competitor Bank Zachodni WBK SA have lifted profits partly because of rising fees on fund management.

Pioneer Pekao TFI, in which Pekao has a 49 percent stake, posted net income of 182.1 million zloty last year compared to 106.2 million zloty for the previous year. Fees on fund management rose 45.6 percent to 578 million zloty in 2006, Pekao said when publishing full-year results in February.