Domestic investors remain the top investors in the ATX prime, followed by international institutional investors that have widened their holdings in some cases to quite a significant extent in 2013. Austrian funds slightly reduced their shareholdings in the first half of 2013, enabling Anglo-Saxon investors to catch up again. US and UK investors are followed by institutionals from France, Norway, Mexico, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. After a difficult start at the beginning of the year, the Austrian stock market and market capitalization of the ATX prime recovered slightly; however, the withdrawal of assets under management resulted in a somewhat lower market capitalization of the ATX prime as compared to year-end 2012. Around mid-year, the trend reversed, bringing about higher trading volumes as well as heightened interest and significant buying by international investors. This group of investors predominantly bet on economic recovery and growth prospects of the largest ATX issuers. Despite the slight drop in their aggregate share, Austrian investors – institutional, non-financial institutions as well as retail customers – still remain the largest investment group in the ATX prime. The financial market place of Vienna was clearly able to defend its position as the largest investment center for the ATX prime against other cities such as London or New York. With regard to investment strategies, value and growth investing still remain the dominant styles, with passively-managed funds and dividend strategies gaining ground.
These are the key messages of the updated study (cut-off date: 30 June 2013) "Institutional Ownership of the ATX prime" conducted by the information provider Ipreo on behalf of the Vienna Stock Exchange. The survey is highly indicative, as it succeeded in identifying and allocating in detail more than 90% of Austrian free float on the level of individual funds.
Ipreo-Survey: Institutional Investors and Austrian Stocks in 1H 2013 (pdf-file 670 KB)