Despite an adjustment in the equities market, most CU Life capital insurance funds, including equity funds, brought profits for customers in the short and longer term.
Despite an adjustment in the equities market, most CU Life capital insurance funds, including equity funds, brought profits for customers in the short and longer term. The Dynamic Fund has shown a rate of return of almost 300% over a period of five years.
The second quarter was a very nervous period in world financial markets, and particularly in the Polish market. "On the Warsaw stock exchange we’ve been through some downfalls, caused mainly by a big change in global investors’ sentiment about the so-called emerging markets, of which Poland continues to be one," says Marek Przybylski, general manager of Commercial Union Investment Management, the company that manages CU Life fund assets.
The Warsaw Stock Exchange main WIG index saw an increase of almost 10% in April, then in May it lost all of this growth. In the first half of June the WIG fell further, but the second half of the month brought a much improved mood and an almost 3% rise taking the month as a whole. The consequence of this was that the WIG index ended the quarter more than 1% up.
"In the bonds market, investors did not get nervous until June, when the main index for this market was showing a 1.5% fall, and the index ended the quarter with a loss at this level," says Marek Przybylski.
The situation in the financial markets was reflected in the results for CU Life capital funds, although, despite the adjustment mentioned, most of the funds brought their customers profits not just in the medium and long term, but also over the shortest term, three months.
"You could say, if a bit perversely, that the quarter that’s just finished was a useful lesson for Polish investors, showing that investment risk exists, and that it is inextricably linked to profit. I hope this lesson will discourage customers from short-term speculation on the equities market, and that the results of our funds over three and five years, especially the spectacular rate of growth of the Dynamic Fund, which has been nearly 300% over the last five years, will serve as an incentive to take long-term, considered investment decisions," stresses Marek Przybylski.
A specialised company, Commercial Union Investment Management (Poland), manages the assets of CU Life funds. It has licenses from the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission to manage securities portfolios and provide investment consultancy. It is the third largest asset management company in Poland by funds under management which amount to 11.7 billion Polish zloty (almost Ł2 billion) at the end of June 2006.
Rates of return of Commercial Union Poland Life Insurance Company capital insurance funds at the end of Q 2 of 2006 (%)
| Fund | 3 months | 12 months | 3 years | 5 years |
| Money-Market | 0.45 | 2.99 | – | – |
| Guaranteed | 1.24 | 5.45 | 16.84 | 42.10 |
| Guaranteed Plus | 1.07 | 4.82 | 14.11 | 31.48 |
| Stable Growth | -0.26 | 5.53 | 22.59 | 63.93 |
| Balanced | 0.25 | 18.47 | 62.62 | 119.61 |
| Euro-Balanced | 0.13 | 9.41 | – | – |
| International | -2.25 | 14.23 | 46.26 | 44.33 |
| CU – Equities Fund | 0.42 | 38.01 | 144.79 | 200.91 |
| Dynamic | 0.44 | 39.11 | 172.02 | 298.79 |
| PPE Bonds | -0.34 | 2.42 | – | – |
| PPE Stable Growth | 0.07 | 9.42 | 39.76 | 76.11 |
| PPE Balanced | 0.03 | 17.56 | – | – |
| PPE Equities | 0.25 | 37.03 | – | – |
| WIG | 1.05 | 43.46 | 154.23 | 191.45 |
| Inflation | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.7 | 9.0 |
-ends-
For more information:
Bohdan Bialorucki
Telephone: +48 22 557 43 41
E-mail: bohdan_bialorucki@cu.com.pl
For further information, see www.cu.com.pl
Notes to editors:
Commercial Union Poland Group is part of the international Aviva group – the world’s sixth largest insurance, savings and investments group, and the largest in the United Kingdom by revenues. Aviva Group operates in 25 countries. It occupies a strong position in the European Union, including United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Poland. Worldwide, Aviva group services over 30 million customers and manages assets valued at over Ł290 billion. For additional information, see the website http://www.aviva.com