FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES
ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2009
FINANS ASSET MANAGEMENT
As the market leader in Turkey in terms of innovation and new
products, Finans Asset Management will continue to work on new
products and provide new tools for investors to benefit from long-term
growth potential of Turkey.
New Products and Trends
Global economy is going through tough times.
Since the beginning of 2008, global
economies, developed or emerging, face
negative growth, higher unemployment and
declining consumption. Volatility in financial
markets resulted in credit crunch and
significant decline in asset prices which paved
the way for negative investor sentiment towards
financial products and/or financial institutions.
During this period, investors’ needs and
requirements continued to change. Investors’
shifted towards financial products which are
transparent in terms of pricing, valuation and
liquidity. As Finans Asset Management we
continued to work on innovative solutions for
changing investor needs and demands.
Finans Asset Management (FAM) has been
very active to launch new products in Turkey
for Turkish and foreign investors. Exchange
traded funds, fund of funds, theme-dedicated
funds, quant fund, capital protected funds are
some examples of the products FAM
introduced in Turkey. Changing investor needs
and priorities affected these products in
different ways and will continue to impact
future performance of financial products.
In 2008, in line with declining stock prices,
retail and institutional investors reduced their
equity exposure and moved towards fixed
income products. In high interest rate
environments such as Turkey, government
fixed income has been a very attractive
investment tool after most central banks cut
key interest rates in their countries. As
expected we have seen significant interest to
FBIST; the first income exchange traded fund
in emerging Europe.
As investor sentiment and trust towards
financial institutions and financial products
eroded significantly, gold has become a safe
heaven. Investors preferred gold not because it
has always been a safe heaven for turbulent
times but also gold believed to protect
investments against inflation. GOLDIST, the
first gold exchange traded fund in Turkey and
the sixth in the world, has seen increasing
interest. Average daily trading volume
increased to US$ 2 million from 2007 to US$ 3
million in 2008. In the first quarter of 2009,
average daily trading volume of GOLDIST
reached US$ 5 million while total physical gold
held within the fund rose to 1,450 kilograms
during the same period.
Capital protected funds also have been
popular in 2008. As investors faced significant
losses during volatile times, capital protected
funds became an attractive alternative as they
offer participation in certain asset class and
protection of initial capital.
Finans Asset Management also launched the
first exchange traded fund based on Istanbul
Stock Exchange Index in 2009. Based on ISE
30 Index, IST30 provides direct exposure to
Turkish blue-chips listed on the Istanbul Stock
Exchange. IST30 has been listed on the
Istanbul Stock Exchange since April 7th and
average daily trading volume exceeds US$ 30
million.
Investors will continue to focus on transparent
financial instruments and passive investment
and tactical asset allocation will gain
momentum in the upcoming years. As the
market leader in Turkey in terms of innovation
and new products, Finans Asset Management
will continue to work on new products and
provide new tools for investors to benefit from
long-term growth potential of Turkey.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Contact Name Mr. C. Ozgur Guneri
PAGE 18
E-mail [email protected]
Website www.finansportfoy.com