Wealthy clients at Aton raised their investment in bonds, both Russian (up 95%) and Eurobonds (up 46%) in January. According to a report on funds invested by clients worth over $100,000 and $1 mln, equity investment also climbed by 23%.
Demand for bonds could be attributable to the close of 2-yer deposits which were opened during the period of high interest rates, Aton noted. In the equity segment, financial and O&G stocks were in demand. Investors were also interested in shares of companies that will potentially benefit most of all from easing of anti-Russian sanctions, namely Sberbank, VTB Bank, Rosneft and Novatek.
Aeroflot saw the heaviest inflow from retail investors in January (up 46%) as the stock fell 10% off the highs, i.e. investors had the opportunity to buy before the air carrier's stocks rallied 25%.
Equity investors opted for big-cap names (over $8 bln) which are not affected by currency fluctuations and see high returns on free cash flows. The report noted that in search of quality and protection of investment retail investors were ready to accept slow growth of financial indicators, and the amount of dividend payouts was not a crucial factor.
