For the first time since end-2009, Bulgarian mutual funds experienced pick-up in the volume of managed assets, posting a 4% rise to 618 million leva in August, the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria reported.

The figure represents a 26 million leva increase on the July level, shows data by the Bulgarian Association of Asset Management Companies (BAAMC) and market players.

Domestic schemes attracted approximately 8 million leva in fresh assets in the eight month of the year, with foreign schemes, led by Pioneer, scooping up around 18 million leva more. However, few made capital profits as markets were roiled by some of the worst months of the year, which means that more cash poured into the schemes.

The uptick in assets managed by Bulgarian mutual funds could be traced back mostly to the rebalancing of portfolios of professional and institutional investors, said Yavor Achev, Pioneer Investments' manager for Bulgaria. He revealed that August brought the first net sales through the scheme's savings plan, an investment product which enables customers to park monies with mutual funds through a series of small monthly payments.