The public's financial assets portfolio in the second quarter of 2013

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§  In the second quarter of 2013 the value of the public's financial assets portfolio declined by about 1.2 percent in real terms, and reached NIS 2.76 trillion at the end of June.

 

§  Most of the decline was registered in the value of the domestic shares portfolio, due primarily to the decline in share prices on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).

 

§  As a result of the above developments, the share of tradable assets in the portfolio declined by 0.3 percentage points in the second quarter while the share of deposits abroad increased.

 

§  There was a net increase of around NIS 14.6 billion (7.7 percent) in the section of the portfolio managed through mutual funds in the second quarter of 2013, in money market funds and in funds that specialize mainly in CPI-indexed corporate bonds.

 

 

1. The total assets portfolio

 

In the second quarter of 2013 the value of the public's financial assets portfolio declined by about 1.2 percent in real terms, and reached NIS 2.76 trillion at the end of June.

The decline was due primarily to a decline in the value of the securities portfolio on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange—a decline of about NIS 13 billion (2.9 percent) in the value of the Israel shares portfolio, due primarily to a decline in share prices, and about NIS 5 billion (1.8 percent) in the value of bonds traded in Israel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the first half of 2013, there was an increase of about 0.7 percentage points in the share of foreign exchange assets in Israel and abroad, following stability in the share of these assets in 2011 and 2012. 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The securities portfolio, by main components

 

 

 

Shares in Israel

In the second quarter of 2013 the balance of shares held by the public declined by some NIS 13 billion, to NIS 416 billion at the end of June, a decline of 2.9 percent over the previous quarter. This decline was due to the effect of price changes of Tel Aviv Stock Exchange-traded shares (about NIS 14 billion), which were partially offset by net investments of about NIS 1 billion.

Corporate bonds

In the second quarter of 2013 the value of negotiable corporate bonds in the portfolio declined by about NIS 5 billion, and reached about NIS 260 billion at the end of June. The decline was the result of price declines in the corporate bond market (about 1.6 percent), together with net repayments of about NIS 400 million.

 

The assets portfolio abroad

In the second quarter of 2013, the value of the portfolio abroad held by Israeli residents declined by about NIS 0.5 billion, to NIS 335 billion. Declines of about NIS 0.7 billion in bond values (0.6 percent) and in the share value abroad (0.4 percent), were partially offset by an increase of about NIS 0.9 billion (3.3 percent) in the balance of deposits abroad.

The decline in the balance of shares abroad is due mainly to the net sales of shares by institutional investors abroad in parallel with the appreciation of the shekel against the dollar (0.8 percent), which lowered the shekel value of the portfolio.  This decline was mostly offset by the increase in stock indices abroad.

 

 

 

3. Mutual funds

The value of the portfolio managed by Israeli mutual funds was NIS 205 billion at the end of June, about 7 percent of the public's total asset portfolio and about 16 percent of the tradable portfolio. In the second quarter of 2013, the value of mutual fund assets increased by about NIS 16 billion (8.4 percent)—the combination of NIS 14.6 billion in net accumulations (surplus of issues over deposits, minus dividends), and price increases in the markets.

 

A breakdown of mutual funds by specialization shows that net increases in the second quarter of the year were concentrated “other” bonds (about NIS 7.4 billion or 12.9 percent)—mainly CPI-indexed corporate bonds, and money market funds (NIS 6.6 billion, 13.1 percent). In contrast, there were net deposits in the foreign bond component (about NIS 0.6 billion, 8 percent).