Ilirika takes over Triumph, Triumph Balance and Citadel Novcani Fond - Slovenians announce new acquisitions

The investment funds management company (DZU) Ilirika officially announced Tuesday that it had taken over three funds from DZU Citadel. In that way, Ilirika has become a company that manages the assets of as many as eight investment funds out of the total of 15 funds registered in Serbia.

Thanks to this acquisition, Ilirika's share in the Serbian open-ended investment funds market has exceeded 14 percent, and it now manages assets worth more than RSD 270 million.

This company acquired investment funds Triumph, Triumph Balance and Citadel Novcani Fond from Citadel, and these three will change their name into Ilirika funds next month.

- Our clients can now choose from a variety of funds offering different risks and yields - Igor Stemberger, chairman of the Ilirika Managing Board, said at a press conference.

Director of DZU Ilirika Serbia Damjan Mencej says that a chance for development in our market lies in the liberalization of the Law on Investment Funds, which has opened up new opportunities for investors who have a chance to invest in global stock exchanges through legal representatives.

He adds that Ilirika plans to take over few more funds in the following period. The management of Ilirika did not specify which other funds they were negotiating with, but Mencej points out that by the end of 2013, Ilirika may be the only investment funds management company to survive in addition to those ran by banks (Raiffeisen, Kombank, Erste).

That leads us to a conclusion that this DZU could take over funds from a company that already sold some funds to it, that is, from DZU Fima Invest, which is, at this moment, the only company to have its own independent fund.

Ilirika Chief Portfolio Manager Igor Popovic stresses that DZU has about 3,000 clients, adding that their number has grown 50 percent over the last year. Popovic also says that the local market has a potential, explaining that the investment in investment funds in Serbia amounts to less than EUR 1 per capita against EUR 464 per capita in Croatia and EUR 967 per capita in Slovenia.

By the way, takeover of Citadel's funds represents Ilirika's third acquisition in Serbia. Last year, this company first acquired two Delta's funds and then took over one Fima's fund.

There are 15 open-end investment funds operating in Serbia, with the total value of assets close to RSD 2 billion.