World finance giants are vying over Property Fund

Eight of the largest international financial institutions are in the race for managing the four billion-euro assets of the Property Fund (Fondul Proprietatea). Yet their capacity to efficiently manage this money can be doubted considering some of them have been at the state's mercy lately or have had to restructure due to the financial crisis.

The former investment banks that wreaked havoc on Wall Street and caused the international turmoil are now selected by the Romanian state, which will pay fees to them to efficiently manage the Property Fund.
 
Annual management fees on the asset management market stand at 1 to 2% of the value of the assets, which would lead to a 40 to 80 million-euro profit from the management operation every year for the winning company.

Eight companies submitted bids to the Commission appointed to choose the manager of the Property Fund. They include international financial sector heavyweights like ING Invest Management, Morgan Stanley, and Julius Baer. Other companies are AVIVA Global Services, BlackRock, FINAG Holding (the asset management consortium of Erste Group) and Franklin Templeton Investments.

Ziarul Financiar