The Cyprus Investment Funds Association welcomed “this sustainable expansion and remains ever more committed to further enhancing such growth”.

During the same period, the number of funds licensed by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) also increased.

The Commission currently supervises 289 Management Companies and Undertakings for Collective Investments (UCIs), 201 of which pursued investments in the local economy.

CIFA President Andreas Yiasemides said: “We are pleased by the steady growth both of the number of assets under management, as well as the number of fund structures licensed and active in Cyprus.

“CIFA will continue its targeted efforts to promote the sector abroad.

“Along with a series of upcoming regulatory improvements, we are confident that the sector will maintain its fast-paced growth and will considerably contribute towards the speedy recovery of the Cyprus economy.”

CIFA also welcomes the increase of the number of Investment Funds investing entirely or partially in Cyprus from 123 to 128 only within a quarter, which means an aggregate of €2.3 billion channelled into the real economy (21.8% of the total AUM).

As a result, the value of Total Assets Under Management reached €10.7bn in Q2 2021, recording a 9% increase over Q1 2021, according to CySEC.

CySEC has 289 Management Companies and UCIs under its supervision, of which 201 have operations.

More specifically, it supervises 176 Externally Managed UCIs, 51 Internally Managed UCIs and 62 External Fund Managers.

The total number of Management Companies includes 33 AIFMs, 72 Sub-threshold AIFMs, 4 UCITS Management Companies and four dual license entities (AIFMs and UCITS Management Companies).

The UCIs, which the Management Companies manage, had a Net Asset Value (NAV) of €8.7 billion.

Approximately 54% of the AUM relates to Assets managed by the AIFMs, while Sub-threshold AIFMs manage 17%, 22% by AIFMs and UCITS Management Companies, 7% by UCITS Management Companies and only 1% by Regulated UCIs managed by Foreign Fund Managers.

The UCITS’ invest heavily in Transferable Securities (86%), followed by investments in Bank Deposits (6%).

AIFs, AIFLNPs and RAIFs mainly invest in Private Equity (36.7%), while 12% of the AUM are invested in Real Estate.

There are 172 UCIs in operation, 75% of the total AUM, and 155 UCIs domiciled in Cyprus.

Of the 172 UCIs managed by UCIs Management Companies, 128 invest in Cyprus either entirely or partially, and €2.3 billion (21.8%) are investments made in Cyprus.

And 54% of the investments in Cyprus are in Private Equity, while 13% are in Real Estate.

The majority of UCITs are Retail Investors (99.4%), while for AIF, AIFNLP and RAIF, 36.1% are Professional Investors, 51.7% are Well-Informed Investors, and only 12.2% are Retail Investors.

In Q2, AUM investment in the energy sector totalled €346 million (3.24% of total AUM), €29.1 million was invested in Fintech (0.27%), €35.9 million in Shipping (0.34%), €36.9 million in the Sustainability sector (0.35%) and €6.6 million in Cryptocurrencies (0.06%).

Source: Financial Mirror