The institutional investors’ demand for the companies listed on the member exchanges of CEESEG is growing again after the difficult market situation following the financial crisis. Especially investors with a higher exposure to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have increased their positions in the member exchanges of CEESEG, just as institutional investors with a value focus. These are the main findings of a recent study conducted by the information provider, Ipreo.
In the second half of 2009 the combined free float of issuers listed at the CEESEG-Exchanges Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana and Prague increased to USD 87.8bn (total market capitalization per December 2009: USD 200.9bn), driven by positive price effects and the rally in the calendar year 2009. 76.5% is held by domestic and foreign institutional investors, 6.1% by non-financial strategic institutions, and 17.4% by domestic private households.
The study also shows that within the group of institutional investors 86% of the shares are held by international institutional investors. On CEESEG average, the largest international institutional investors in the CEESEG exchanges come from the US (30.4%) and the UK (16.2%), followed by Austria (10.7%), Germany (7.7%) and France (4.8%).
Overall, growth investors predominate, value investors increased their stake, followed by GARP (growth at a reasonable price) institutions. The predominant type of investor has low to moderate turnover ratios (the turnover ratio indicates how often institutional investors switch securities within their overall portfolios on average per year), which implies that the positioning in the markets of CEESEG is generally long-term.
About the Study
The Ipreo study investigates the regional origins and investment styles of institutional investors that invest in the companies listed on the CEESEG-Exchanges Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana and Prague. The study also analyzes the turnover ratio, i.e., the frequency of portfolio switching. The figures regarding the CEESEG markets are average numbers calculated from the findings of the individual exchanges, therefore the results for each respective home market may deviate, as more Austrian, Hungarian, Czech or Slovenian institutions invest their money into the local stock market and therefore represent a much larger stake locally compared to the CEESEG average.