The Warsaw Stock Exchange allows for better structured and diversified portfolios

• Interview with Marius Trif, General Manager of SSIF "Carpatica Invest"

• Preliminary discussions with the representatives of the Polish Stock Exchange on the subject of dual listings

Reporter: How big do you expect the demand for foreign stocks is among Romanian investors? What does your offer of foreign securities include? Are you considering becoming affiliated with other foreign stock exchanges?

Marius Trif: Following a study conducted among investors on their wish for diversification of their stock investments, their appetite for stocks is low at the moment for the most part, but as soon as the macro-economic context improves we think that there will be an increase in the interest for domestic stocks, as well as for the foreign ones.

At the moment, our company offers the possibility of trading any of the stocks listed on the WSE (ed. note: the Warsaw Stock Exchange) and on the Main Market (ed. note: the main market) and the New Connect market (ed. note: intended for start-ups). Through our partnership with Deltastock Sofia we also offer the possibility of trading single stock CFDs (ed. note: Contracts for Differences) of the main foreign markets, CFDs based on the main international indexes and currency pairs.

As for what concerns the affiliation with other foreign exchanges, we are still reviewing the option of affiliation because we intend to offer our clients a range of equity markets products as diversified as possible as well as investment opportunities.

Reporter: What caused you to choose the Warsaw Stock Exchange out of all the others to have Carpatica Invest join it as a member?

Marius Trif: The thing that attracted us to the Warsaw Stock Exchange was the liquidity and the large number of IPOs (ed. note: Initial Public Offerings) of the past few years. Also, large trading volumes have caused us to collaborate with the Polish Stock Exchange. Also noteworthy are the similarities existing between the Warsaw and Bucharest Stock Exchanges, as both are located in Central Eastern Europe.

Reporter: What does the Warsaw Stock Exchange have to offer compared to the Bucharest Stock Exchange?

Marius Trif: The Warsaw Stock Exchange offers better liquidity, and economic structures are represented better. On the other hand, many industries (telecommunications, IT etc) are not represented on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

The Polish Stock Exchange provides our customers with the ability to have portfolios with a better structure and diversification.

Reporter: What are the results you expect to achieve by being a member of the WSE?

Marius Trif: Being a member of the Warsaw Stock Exchange allows us to offer a diversified range of products, as well as increase the visibility of our company abroad. This would essentially allow us to diversify our lines of business.

Reporter: Did you discuss with the representatives of the Warsaw Stock Exchange the possibility of any dual listings (which you could perhaps serve as intermediaries for)?

Marius Trif: There have been some preliminary discussions with the officials of the Warsaw Stock Exchange concerning the dual listings of Romanian companies on the Polish Stock Exchange, as well as of companies of listed on the WSE in Romania.

Reporter: What would you suggest stock market investors do this year?

Marius Trif: This year, we recommend that investors diversify their portfolios, by focusing part of their investments on the shorter term, while making some long term investments as well. The Bucharest Stock Exchange offers the possibility of making short term gains, given the volatility which is expected for the coming period.

For customers with lower risk appetite, an opportunity for this year would be represented by investments in mutual funds, bonds, as well as getting involved in the IPOs of the companies in which the Romanian government will sell stock this year.

The investment strategy needs to be adjusted based on the domestic and international micro and macroeconomic situation.

Reporter: How well did Carpatica Invest do in the past years? How much did the economic crisis affect Romanian brokers?

Marius Trif: Financially, Carpatica Invest has consolidated its position among the Romanian brokerage firms, and is currently ranked in the top ten. Whereas in 2010 we ranked ninth in the aggregated chart (BSE, RASDAQ, ATS) with a market share of 3.53%, with a trading volume of 631.62 million lei, at the end of 2011 we were ranked eighth, with a trading volume of 829.23 million lei and a market share of 3.57%. We have maintained our top position by restructuring our branches, as well as by opening new branches, such as the one in Arad. Thus, SSIF Carpatica Invest SA ended the year 2011 as the number one retail brokerage firm.

Reporter: What are the goals of Carpatica Invest for this year?

Marius Trif: This year, we intend to keep our top position among the Romanian brokerage firms and we want to achieve this goal by attracting new issuers to the Bucharest Stock Exchange and by intermediating IPOs. An important objective for Carpatica Invest this year is the development of common products of the Carpatica Financial Group which our company belongs to together with Banca Comercială Carpatica and SAI Carpatica Asset Management. We also intend to continue promoting the services which Carpatica Invest offers on the Romanian market, as well as attracting foreign customers, by promoting our products on their markets.