Raiffeissen Asset Management (Bulgaria) will introduce e new balanced fund, denominated in US dollars, the company said at a press conference today.

The idea emerged because of the fact that many Bulgarians still prefer to save in US dollars. The fund will innvest 90% of its assets in shares and bonds (including Bulgarian).

“The statutes of our four existing funds in Bulgaria have been changed, which will allow for restructuring of our portfolios,” said Momchil Andreev, chairman of the Management Borad and CEO of Raiffeissenbank Bulgaria.

This will allow the four funds to enter the neighboring markets and participate in the forthcoming IPOs and SPOs.

The newest product introduced by Raiffeissen is the so-called mix deposit, that is 70% of the money is deposited and the rest is invested in Raiffeissenbank Bulgaria Balanced Fund and/or in Raiffeissenbank Bulgaria Shares, with the aim of achieving a higher return.

The bank also offers credits on security of stakes in its funds. The amount of the credit may reach up to 70-80% of the value, depending on the fund and the market perspective at the given moment.

Currently Raiffeissen Asset Management controls four Bulgarian mutual funds, which manage a total of 112 mln leva, or 57.264 mln euros (according to Sept 15 data) and Raiffeissen Capital Management controls eight funds, whose sales totalled some 7.311 mln leva (3.738 mln euros) on August 31.