The Romanian investment fund market has surpassed the threshold of one million investors. Moreover, the net assets of the 248 open-ended and closed-ended funds reached RON 51.8 billion (EUR 10.2 billion) in June, according to data from the Romanian Fund Managers Association, or AAF.
Specifically, 1,007,481 people in Romania had money in the local and foreign investment funds present in the country. Net assets also surpassed EUR 10 billion after a monthly increase of 2.5% and a year-to-date growth of 7.1%. Net inflows into funds in June amounted to RON 99 million (EUR 19.6 million).
“Surpassing the threshold of one million investors is an extremely important moment for our relatively young industry, which for a long time was viewed with rather little trust. This milestone, symbolic in essence, highlights several extremely important elements for our industry, making us confident that the next threshold of one million investors will be reached much sooner than in 30 years,” said Horia Gustă, president of the Romanian Fund Managers Association, cited by News.ro.
“The legislative change adopted three years ago, which allowed for withholding tax at source and more favorable taxation of this type of investment, was the main driver for doubling the number of investors in open-ended investment funds, popular among retail investors. If in July 2021 there were just over 500,000 fund investors in Romania, today their number has exceeded 1 million,” he added.
By categories, the 96 local open-ended funds recorded a 1.7% increase in net assets, reaching RON 29 billion (EUR 5.71 billion), with net inflows of RON 101.8 million, while the foreign open-ended funds distributed in Romania (116 funds) had a 1.5% increase in net assets expressed in lei in June, up to RON 2.26 billion (EUR 0.45 billion), with net inflows of RON 6.9 million (EUR 1.37 million).
At the same time, the 36 alternative investment funds (AIFs) recorded a 3.8% increase in net assets, reaching 20.5 billion lei (4 billion euros), with net outflows of 9.8 million lei in June.
“Industry statistics indicate that for 33 months, we have had a sustained increase in the number of investors. We are talking about a monthly average of 14,000 new people choosing to invest in funds, and this sustained growth indicates not only a large market potential but also an increasing level of trust,” said Jan Pricop, executive director of the Romanian Fund Managers Association.
The months with the largest number of new investors were February 2024, October 2024, and June 2025, according to the official.
The top 5 performing funds in the past 12 months generated annual net returns between 11.3% and 22%. Over a 36-month horizon, the top-performing funds had returns ranging between 69.7% and 79.8%.
(Photo source: Peter Williams | Dreamstime.com)
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