The balance of the portfolio managed by institutional investors increased in the fourth quarter by NIS 120 billion (5.3%) and ended up at NIS 2.4 trillion. In annual summary, the balance increased by about 17%. The public continues to accumulate cash
Data from the Bank of Israel show that the public continues to accumulate cash, in contrast to institutions that increase exposure.
The balance of holdings in shares in Israel increased during the quarter by NIS 90.7 billion (12.5%), mainly as a result of price increases in the stock indices, which were slightly offset by net realizations. NIS 815 billion.
The balance of cash and deposits increased during the quarter by approximately NIS 93 billion (5.2%) and reached a level of approximately NIS 1.9 trillion, following a significant increase in this component that began in 2020.
The balance of marketable corporate bonds in Israel increased by NIS 23.4 billion and ended up at NIS 382 billion, mainly as a result of net investments, against the background of the issues during this quarter.
The balance of government bonds (tradable and non-tradable) and the makam rose during the quarter by about NIS 7.4 billion (0.8%) and ended up at about 950 billion.
The balance of investments abroad decreased during the quarter by approximately NIS 5.1 billion (-0.7%) and ended up at approximately NIS 766 billion, constituting approximately 15% of the total asset portfolio. The decrease was due to the following two components:
The balance of marketable bonds (corporate and government) abroad decreased by NIS 2.6 billion (1.5%), despite net investments amounting to NIS 10 billion. This is due to the appreciation of the shekel against the dollar (-7.7%) and price declines, which stood at about NIS 166 billion at the end of the quarter.
The balance of shares abroad decreased by NIS 2.5 billion (0.4%) and stood at NIS 599 billion at the end of the quarter. Despite the increases in the stock indices, the balance decreased as a result of net realizations of NIS 1.7 billion and appreciation The shekel against the dollar (- 3.7%).
As a result of the developments during the quarter, there was a decrease in the rate of foreign assets and the rate of foreign exchange assets of about 0.8 percentage points (from 16% to 15.2%) and about 0.7 percentage points (from 23.1% to 22.4%), respectively.
The portfolio managed by the institutional investors:
The balance of assets managed by all institutional investors increased in the fourth quarter by about NIS 120 billion (5.3%) and ended up at about NIS 2.4 trillion (about 48% of the total financial assets portfolio of the public). The increase in the balance included all institutional entities, and was particularly pronounced in the new pension funds (an increase of approximately NIS 39 billion). The increase in the balance of the portfolio managed during the quarter was mainly due to changes in the following investment components: shares in Israel (15.5%) mainly price increases; Government bonds and makam – an increase of about NIS 22 billion (2.6%); Shares abroad – a decrease of about NIS 30 billion (15.4%), mainly due to net sales.
Disclosure of the portfolio managed by institutional investors for assets abroad and foreign exchange:
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the rate of exposure of institutional investors to assets abroad increased by 0.9 percentage points to approximately 37.5% of total assets. This is due to a higher increase in the balance of exposure to assets abroad than the rate of increase in total assets of institutional investors. Provident and advanced training funds showed an increase in the rate of exposure abroad to a level of 44.5%.
Most of the increase in the balance of exposure to assets abroad (approximately $ 29.7 billion) was due to an increase in exposure to equity indices abroad through futures and options (approximately $ 17.6 billion).
Foreign currency exposure – During the fourth quarter of the year, institutional investors sold net foreign currency assets in the amount of approximately $ 3.3 billion; Acquisitions of approximately $ 3.9 billion in foreign currency-denominated assets (mainly in deposits and current accounts in Israel denominated in foreign currency) were offset by the sale of net foreign currency using derivative financial instruments in the amount of approximately $ 7.2 billion; That is, increasing future transactions for the sale of foreign exchange.
As a result of the above development, there has been a decrease in the rate of foreign exchange exposure (including NIS / foreign exchange derivatives) of institutional investors by approximately 0.4 percentage points to a level of approximately 17.3%.
The reduction in the rate of exposure to foreign currency characterized all the institutional bodies. The new pension funds stood out, reducing the rate of exposure to foreign exchange by 0.9 percentage points to a level of 17.9%.