International institutional investors remain the largest stakeholders in the ATX prime, having increased their holdings further in 2014. US-based investors showed more interest in Austrian stocks and remain atop the regional list, followed by investors located in Austria as well as UK and Continental Europe-based institutions. Austrian funds saw a relative decrease in their regional market share, while active buying was driven mostly by international investors. Within Continental Europe there was high demand from institutional investors based in the "big three" (France, Norway, and Germany), followed by the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Poland. Interest for European exposure including Austrian stocks was up among international investors, while risk aversion became a major issue again, with debt worries over Austria's economy, political and economic instability in Europe and Eastern Europe being the main concerns. In terms of investment style, growth-oriented strategies remain atop in the ATX prime stocks, followed by value and index styles. Value and index (passive) strategies saw positive dynamics in 2014, whereas growth-oriented styles generally declined. Interestingly enough, hedge funds and other alternative investors returned to the Austrian market with the highest relative increase. In 2014, the ATX prime ownership structure underwent significant changes, with corporate actions by FACC, Raiffeisen Bank International, Telekom Austria and BUWOG having an effect on the free float capitalization of the ATX prime. Significant buying was identified at global investment houses such as The Capital Group, Fidelity, Threadneedle, Delta Lloyd and Vanguard, whereas selling was less concentrated (regionally or style-wise), as it was done mostly for profit-taking. For smaller capitalized issuers, sector-specific institutions were active in special investment stories and market leaders (e.g., Schoeller-Bleckmann, Polytec, Semperit, and Wienerberger) to gain access to specific industry segments and global market leaders. Austrian investors as a whole – institutionals, non-financial institutions as well as retail holders – remain the largest investment group in the ATX prime, yet by international comparison, domestic institutional investors are still underinvested in the Austrian home market.
These are the key messages of the updated study (cut-off date: 31 December 2014) "Institutional Ownership of the ATX prime" conducted by the financial 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.