In the last 10 years, the volume of the investments of households in Bulgaria reached 250% growth. In the same period, the deposit volume increased by 135%. Despite the accelerated growth of investments, they still form only 2.3% of the total savings of Bulgarians, whereas 98% represent deposits. This is indicated in an analysis of the savings and investments market, presented by UniCredit Bulbank. The Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Teodora Petkova, the Head of Retail Banking, Giacomo Volpi and the Manager of Sales of Investment Products, Sava Savyanov, collectively presented the analysis. 

The research is related to the tenth anniversary of Investment Plan – a product of UniCredit Bulbank providing an opportunity to generate savings and achieve good yield with small amounts, which are invested in investment funds each month.

“Investment plans are the best way to start investing. They allow you to choose the investment strategy, each month you invest small amounts in Amundi funds and you have information available about your funds“, commented Giacomo Volpi, Head of Retail Banking at UniCredit Bulbank. He specified that the average annual growth of the investments in investment  funds in Bulgaria for the last 2 years (2017-2018) is 23%. “In this way, the volume of investments in investment funds grows, but still it is far off from the levels of developed markets and even from the rest of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe”, added Mr. Volpi.

“We witness a growth of the economy and income, which naturally leads also to greater savings. We see a vast potential in the market for investment products and the sales of our Investment Plan product prove it”, commented Teodora Petkova, Chief Executive Officer of UniCredit Bulbank. The number of clients of UniCredit Bulbank who have chosen the investment option increased in 2018 by 22% on an annual basis.

The bank’s experts point out that the distribution of the assets in the portfolio of Bulgarian investors is similar to the structure of the portfolio of the average European investor. According to the calculations presented in an analysis by UniCredit Bulbank, the potential for additional yield from the capital markets is evident. Thus, for instance, 1000 Bulgarian lev deposited in 2014 bring an interest income of 59 Bulgarian lev to present date, which is 1.15% per year. At the same, 1000 Bulgarian lev invested in a basket of European bonds would have a return of 139 Bulgarian lev, which is 2.5 times higher than the deposit yield.

UniCredit Bulbank holds the leading position as the best digital bank through continuous and sustainable investments in this field. A great number of the bank’s services are available online – money transfers and payments, account opening, insurance policies or even financial advisory services. Investors in investment funds are now able to monitor their investments in the Bulbank Mobile app.

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Additional media information:

Victoria Blajeva, tel +359 (0) 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Beatris Nikolova, tel +359 (0) 2 9232 528, cfbusjt/ojlpmpwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, tel +359 894 518 193 , flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch