According to the latest survey by the Capital Market Association (AKAT), only 35 percent of Czechs have invested at least once in the past or invest regularly.
On the contrary, 37 percent of respondents have never invested and are not even going to start, another 23 percent are considering investments, but have no experience with them so far. Four percent of people consider themselves to be experienced investors.
“In addition to money, investing also requires perspective and financial literacy, and this is often a stumbling block. “Many get discouraged by the first minor failure or publicized cases of low-quality corporate bonds and avoid investing out of fear,” Jaromír Sladkovský, AKAT’s vice-chairman, told Práv.
Investments in 2023: analysts recommend bonds or gold
Finance
“Investing is not an easy discipline. It requires an active approach, searching and evaluating relevant information, choosing a quality financial advisor is not out of the question,” he added.
Regularity and diversification
Experts advise people to stick to a long-term strategy and not to change it after fluctuations in the markets.
“Regular investing can help a lot. Diversification of the portfolio is also essential, today it is relatively difficult to estimate what will happen next, but for more conservative clients it makes sense to invest, for example, in government bonds, where one can (prospectively) expect a drop in rates from the CNB, and thus these bonds could achieve an interesting evaluation,” said Tomáš Kapoun, manager of the investment product team at Moneta Money Bank.
Some experts now advise investing in euro bonds. “The koruna is holding up, but its strength is not supported by any economic data.
In the case of a weakening that will come sooner or later, realistically the difference between not buying Eurobonds and buying Eurobonds can be over 20 percent in a year,” says Jiří Mesároš from the Dluhopisy.cz server.
He expects euro investments to become a hit this year. “For example, the Solar ENERGY eurobond, which is used by FVE Systems to finance the construction of photovoltaic power plants in Slovakia and the Balkans, will earn you 10.5 percent,” says Mesároš.
According to Kapoun, investments in equity funds from developed countries, mainly the USA, but also developing markets, are an interesting addition.
Funds did not do well last year
The volume of assets that Czechs have stored in mutual funds increased by 44 billion last year to 751.5 billion crowns. The performance of the funds was negatively affected by high inflation and rising interest rates.
Bond fund results ranged from a loss of nine percent to a gain of one percent. Equity funds lost 11 percent on average, mixed eight percent. The exception was real estate funds, which contributed seven percent.
This year, according to AKAT chairman Martin Řezáč, the situation should stabilize. According to him, money funds will benefit from higher interest rates.
He expects higher income potential for bond funds, but higher volatility can also be expected. “With stock funds, we are out of the worst,” added Řezáč, adding that despite short-term fluctuations, shares should appreciate over the course of the year.
In this year’s first auction, the MoF sold government bonds for 26.7 billion crowns
Economic
