Cristian Pascu, AAF: "We want to implement the system of global accounts for the sale of funds"

The system of global accounts for the sale of investment funds will be implemented in our country probably at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, said recently Cristian Pascu, the vice-president of the Romanian Association of Fund Managers (AAF),during a press conference.

According to him, this system together with the implementation of consulting services will boost the sale of investment funds through banking networks. The vice-president of AAF stated: "In recent years we have been raising the subject of global accounts. We are glad that there is openness at the level of the Financial Supervisory Authority and we have been working for almost a year, trying to put on paper the project for the implementation of the distribution of investment funds through global accounts. Throughout Europe, distribution is done through global accounts, less so in Romania and Croatia".

Cristian Pascu added: "We in Romania want to implement this sales system through global accounts and we believe that it can stimulate the sale of fund units (...). There is also a need to implement consulting services within banks to boost the sale of funds through banking networks. I think that if we have these two ingredients - global accounts and consulting - we can see in the coming years an increase in sales of funds to the European level, which is somewhere around 10% (n.r. the share of investment funds in the financial wealth of the population)".

According to the vice president of AAF, the sale of investment funds through global accounts will allow banks to sell funds of other managers to their own clients. "We are quite close to finalizing the concept. There were many discussions because we also involve the Central Depository in this system. Basically, the Central Depository will be the entity that will keep the book of accounts. The major advantage for all players in the asset management industry and for banks is that each bank will keep its own clients, being able to sell funds of other managers", said Cristian Pascu.

According to the vice-president of AAF, for the implementation of this system a change is needed at the level of the primary legislation, with the details coming through the secondary legislation.

"At the earliest, probably at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, we will be able to see the implementation of the global account system for the sale of fund units", said Cristian Pascu, adding: "To be able to buy fund units offered by an administrator, an investor must open an account with the bank through which that fund is distributed. But through the global account system, I keep the investor with me at the bank and go and buy from another manager the fund that my client wants. Otherwise, the client is somehow forced to go to another bank to open an account, and I may even lose it."

According to a study carried out by EFAMA, at the end of 2022, the financial wealth of the citizens of our country was the lowest in Europe, namely 5,823 euros per capita, just below that of the Bulgarians with 7,778 euros per capita. Almost 70% of Romanians' financial wealth was in bank deposits, 18% in pension funds and only 3.7% in investment funds.