Funds have redemptions of BRL 82 billion in the 1st quarter – 04/06/2023 – Market

In a scenario of high interest rates with the Selic rate at 13.75%, in which investors have given preference to direct allocation in fixed income securities, the investment fund industry ended the first quarter with net withdrawals of R$82.1 billion , the first negative result for the period since 2019, according to data released this Thursday (6) by Anbima (Brazilian Association of Financial and Capital Market Entities).

The result represents a strong reversal of the trend compared to the same period last year, when there was net funding of R$ 42.6 billion.

According to Pedro Rudge, vice-president of Anbima, the flight of funds from funds was not an exclusive movement of the Brazilian market, with a feeling of greater risk aversion also among investors in the United States and Europe, in a global scenario of crisis banking and interest rate hikes in developed countries to combat inflationary pressure.

“The great explanations [para o saque dos fundos] it’s risk aversion and a high interest rate, making other available instruments more attractive than funds”, said Rudge during an interview with journalists.

Instruments exempt from IR (Income Tax), added the vice-president of Anbima, are among those that have gained the most attractiveness on investors’ radar in recent months. In a scenario of high interest rates, “being able to make investments and not pay taxes is a very relevant differential that causes people to end up reallocating their investments”, stated Rudge.

Among the main categories, multimarket type funds were the ones that suffered the highest volume of redemptions from January to March, which reached outflows of R$ 37.4 billion. Equity funds, on the other hand, had net withdrawals of R$23.9 billion in the period. In the same period last year, the two classes had registered withdrawals of R$ 41 billion and R$ 30.7 billion, respectively.

The main difference for the fund industry’s consolidated result, however, came from fixed income – after registering net inflows of BRL 108.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022, funds in the category had net withdrawals of BRL 12.2 billion in the first three months of this year.

Rudge stated that the Americanas case had a limited impact on the outflow of resources from the fixed income category, especially in the case of funds that invest in private credit.

“We saw at first a greater risk aversion as a result of Americanas and a fear that this could eventually contaminate other companies, but when we look at the behavior of the quarter as a whole, it does not seem to be something concentrated or a very large movement “, said the vice-president of Anbima.

He also said that, as soon as it came to light, the episode involving the retailer caused a paralysis in the issuance of bonds by companies, but that, “in the last month we have already started to see some movement.”

Director of Anbima, Giuliano De Marchi stated that, for the coming months, what will most contribute to determine the movement in the fund industry is the level of interest rates, whether in Brazil or abroad.

“If we have an international scenario with less uncertainty and interest rates start to drop abroad and here too, we begin to have a greater search for risky assets. [É um movimento que] should start towards the end of the year,” said De Marchi.

Despite the outflow of funds, the valuation of assets contributed to the fund industry’s net worth ending March at R$7.5 trillion, a 4.2% increase compared to the same period of last year. last year.

In terms of profitability, the positive highlights were fixed income funds that invest in long-term public securities, with an accumulated return of 3.9% in the first quarter. Next come the multimarket investment funds abroad, with a positive return of 3.3%.

On the other hand, the worst returns came from investment strategies in stocks – small cap funds, which allocate resources in smaller capitalization stocks, had an average negative return of 8%, while the “free stocks” strategy, in which managers are free to choose the stocks they understand with the best prospects, had an average drop of 5%.