For a few months it has been difficult to find stock market products on the lists of the best-selling investment funds in Spain. Or mixed. Or absolute return. Since last year, the funds that invest 100% of their portfolio in debt (especially in public debt) have become the best sellers in the market, as a result of the rise in interest rates that has repositioned the profitability of sovereign bonds on attractive terms.
Sales in the first quarter of the year have confirmed this trend. The first three months of 2023 have closed with a volume of investment fund subscriptions not seen since 2015. The funds have attracted 9,005 million euros net. And practically all of them (95%) have entered into monetary and fixed-income funds.
CaixaBank Asset Management, Ibercaja Gestión and BBVA Asset Management are the three managers with the largest subscriptions in the first three months of the year. But, what are the funds most in demand by Spanish investors?
Only among the ten best-selling funds of the year (there are more than 4,500 Spanish investment funds in the market) they account for 10,712 million euros of net deposits. In March, they accelerate the pace of acquisitions and attract 40% of all subscriptions for the quarter.
The most popular of the year is the CaixaBank Public Debt 2024, which captures 2,068 million euros at the end of the first quarter. It is a product that invests in public fixed income from Spain and Italy with a maturity of two years.
The fund got almost all its subscriptions in January. To get an idea of what was captured then, it must be remembered that it was the best-selling fund in January in all of Europe, surpassing international best-sellers such as Pimco GIS Global Income, or the most emblematic debt fund of iShares, despite the fact that CaixaBank only sells this fund in Spain.
It achieves a return of 0.168% so far this year, but the bank does not point out in the brochure what return the investor can reach at maturity. A commission of 0.25% applies.
CaixaBank has other funds among the best sellers in the first quarter. In fact, 50% of the ten funds that raise the most money in 2023 are managed by this entity. To cite an example, the second fund that attracts the most new money this quarter is a product very similar to the one at the top of the table, but instead of maturing in 2024, it matures in 2025. It is the CaixaBank Public Debt 2025, with subscriptions until March of 1,476 million euros. It also invests in Spanish and Italian government debt and reserves up to 15% of assets to leave the money in liquidity or other money market instruments. It is revalued by 0.93% so far this year. The management commission is 0.55%.
The other three CaixaBank funds on the list of best sellers for the quarter are CaixaBank Master Fixed Income Public Debt 3-7, one of the bank’s popular discretionary management portfolios advised by international managers, CaixaBank Monetario Rendimiento Plus and CaixaBank Smart International Fixed Income, the most risky of the five.
BBVA has stepped on the accelerator in recent months and has positioned its BBVA Bonds 2024, as an alternative for conservative savings that call the bank asking about the remuneration of their deposits. This fund, which is a second version of a product that died of commercial success, and invests practically the entire portfolio in Spanish Treasury bills, already has assets of 1,500 million euros. Only in March, it has captured more than 600 million. The manager will begin to apply subscription and redemption commissions to the fund of 3% when it reaches 1,950 million euros of assets, as recently reported to the CNMV.
The Kutxabank manager has received 2,000 million euros in subscriptions in the first quarter through two funds alone: Kutxabank Renta Fija Horizonte 18 and Kutxabank Renta Fija Horizonte 19.
The first contemplates a target return of 2.06% on the initial investment at maturity (in April 2024) and the second promises a target return of 2.02%, as long as the investment is maintained until October 31, 2024. The latter has been the best-selling fund during the month of March, with 726 million new ones.
Santander, for its part, has turned its offer of funds into very short-term debt products with attractive returns at maturity. Its star product in the quarter has been the Santander Objective 14 M, which offers 2.3% if no refunds are made before May 2024. And Ibercaja, one of the most active entities, ranks the Ibercaja Spain-Italy in April 2024 in the ranking, with 763 million captured in the quarter.