Exceptional Month for Mutual Funds in April
The month of April was exceptionally good for mutual funds. The global net asset value reached a historic high of 6,276.6 billion Tunisian dinars (Mtnd). The net collection stood at 489.2 Mtnd since the beginning of the year and 208.6 Mtnd for the month of March alone. This amount remains approximate, as it includes the stock market movement that we cannot calculate with precision, as this information remains exclusive to fund managers.
Bond-based vehicles hold 5,404.1 Mtnd, a 497.6 Mtnd increase over the first four months of the year, including 189.9 Mtnd in March. This trend can be explained by three factors.
The first is the payment of two significant dividends in April, from SPDIT-Sicaf and Attijari Bank. The dividend, which is not generally reinvested immediately, automatically goes into mutual funds, which also distribute dividends during this period.
The second is the upcoming launch of subscriptions for the second tranche of the national bond issue. We all know the importance of the role played by mutual funds in the success of these operations, which are well-prepared in advance.
The third is the high performance of investments in these vehicles, with some of them achieving an annual net return higher than the gross savings rate.
Note that mixed mutual funds showed good health, with an 18.4 Mtnd increase in net assets in March 2024. Equity funds benefited from the stock market behavior and saw their net assets increase by 0.3 Mtnd over the same period.
With the next two months marked by the distribution of the majority of dividends, we believe that mutual funds will stabilize above 6,500 Mtnd. While there may be months with negative net collections, the overall trend will remain upward. This is a good thing for the Tunisian financial industry, which needs to accumulate this type of resource to finance productive sectors.