Mutual funds, 2007

In 2007, the mutual fund share capital increased by NOK 74 billion. The corresponding figure in 2006 was NOK 70 billion. The increase in mutual fund share capital in 2007 was primarily caused by the large net purchases. The net purchases are more than doubled from 2006 to 2007. The net purchase was NOK 66 billion in 2007. In 2006, the net purchase was NOK 31 billion.

Insurance the largest owner sector

The insurance sector’s total owner share continued to grew in 2007. 31 per cent of the total mutual fund shares were owned by this sector. At the same time the household sector decreased its owner share. At the end of 2007 the household sector owned 28 per cent of the total mutual fund share. The corresponding figure for 2006 was nearly 34 per cent.

Most equities

Among the unit trusts’ securities there was a predominance of equities. By the end of 2007, nearly 47 per cent of the unit trusts’ assets were equities. This is a small decrease from the year before when nearly 50 per cent of the assets were equities. Out of these, NOK 140 billion was in foreign equities and NOK 75 billion was in Norwegian equities.

The total profit for unit trusts decreased from the year before. The decrease was primarily caused by negative net changes of unrealized gains on securities by NOK 18 billion.