2023-11-03 20:00:25
Organizations for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) constitute one of the pillars of national savings able to contribute to the economic development of the Kingdom, indicated recently in Casablanca, the president of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC), Nezha Hayat.
The UCITS industry also wants to be a key element in the proper functioning of the stock and bond market, said Ms. Hayat during a conference organized by the Association of Moroccan Management Companies and Investment Funds (ASFIM), under the auspices of theme “Asset management, a vector for mobilizing savings for better development in Africa”, ensuring that UCITS management companies contribute to the global and continental development of the capital market.
She also focused on the challenges facing this segment, including digitalization and the advent of fintech, sustainable development objectives, the need to continually innovate, and the skills challenge which requires managers to undergo training. continues to adapt to changes, as well as the need for greater mobilization of savings and banking networks, reports MAP.
In this regard, Ms. Hayat stressed that the AMMC will continue to implement support measures which relate to education and supervision, the improvement of information documents intended for investors, as well as the gradual deployment of a accreditation system to increase the skills of asset managers, financial advisors and portfolio managers.
The new law on UCITS will constitute a qualitative leap; it will promote the sustainability of asset management, the development of the capital market, and will enable the formal approval of management companies, she said.
As for the operationalization of the listing of UCITS on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, it represents several advantages compared to traditional UCITS, including the reception of new investors, she noted, adding that UCITS funds investment have greatly contributed to the mobilization of national savings.
For his part, the president of the Association of Moroccan management companies and investment funds (ASFIM), Reda Hilali, revealed that the savings mobilized from the management of Organizations for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) in Morocco represents 45% of bank deposits.
After 28 years of existence, the UCITS management industry today has 19 management companies with more than 400 women and men serving clients including more than 100 investment professionals, nearly 600 UCITS, and assets under management of 570 billion dirhams (MMDH), an amount which has more than doubled in just 10 years, he said.
This development has allowed this industry to gradually become a pillar in the financing of the economy with almost a third of the floating capitalization at the level of the Casablanca Stock Exchange, almost half of the Treasury Bonds (BDT) and the debt private in circulation, and a participation of 40% on average in IPOs, he said.
UCITS represent several billion dirhams of subscriptions and redemptions each week and contribute to more than 30% of the volumes traded on the capital markets, he said, recalling that despite the inflationary context and rising interest rates. he year 2022, players in this industry were able to cope with mutual fund redemptions which totaled more than MAD 72 billion by providing the necessary liquidity.
As for the year 2023, Mr. Hilali affirms that an amount of 62 billion dirhams has been subscribed to in UCITS, estimating that one of the major challenges of the industry today lies in the increase in the number relatively low number of investors in UCITS.
And to specify that 63% of assets under management are currently held by institutional investors, while only 7% are managed on behalf of individual investors, and that UCITS have only 30,000 investors on the market in total.
Among the challenges are also the depth of the capital markets, with no more than 74 stocks listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, second in terms of capitalization in Africa, the limitation of financial products to relatively simple instruments, an international clientele with less 1% of outstandings managed on behalf of non-resident clients, explains the ASFIM forecaster.
At the end of the ASFIM conference, three partnership agreements were signed with the aim of collectively shaping the future of asset management on the African continent and exploring growth and investment opportunities. considerable importance in asset management at the continental level.
Thus, the first agreement concerns the international certification process of the portfolio manager function. It was initialed by the President of the AMMC, Nezha Hayat, and the representative of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) in the MENA region, Matthew Cowan.
The second agreement, concluded between the president of the Association of UCI and Asset Management Companies of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), José Dié, and Mr. Hilali, consists of setting up a cooperation program with the aim of deepening understanding and promoting the development of asset management markets.
The collaboration between the two institutions will thus focus on the exchange of information and the development of knowledge of savings management products, the promotion of environmental standards and regulatory exchanges.
The third signature, which concerns the membership of ASFIM to the Pan African Fund Managers Association (PAFMA), was concluded by the representative of the Association, Adebayo Araoye, and Mr. Hilali.
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