Positioned on the border between conditioned sales and bank offers, the products bundling together bank deposits and fund units have helped to bolster the popularity of the bank-owned investment funds, therefore marking the start of banking domination on the market of asset management.

Investment fund management has become a new specialty for banks; especially taking into consideration the fact that more than 65% of the 250 million euro market of open-ended investment funds are controlled by banking institutions. With a high potential for development and an average growth rate of 70% over the last two years, banks have taken the market of mutual funds by storm, with six banking institutions currently operating in the asset management sector.

The lack of any investment culture, along with the poor promotion of investment funds as saving instruments against traditional bank deposits has led banks to resort to using their own products in order to sell their mutual funds. The combined package, which includes bank deposits and fund units, offered to clients is the solution many banks have opted for to gain investors.

So far, BCR, Bancpost and Raiffeisen have made product bundles available to their clients, which allow them to invest and "deposit" their cash at the same time. BRD-SocGen is working on a similar offer.

The short-term interest for three to six months offered to the product bundles, which have so far been introduced, is at a maximum level of 10%, depending on the amount of cash deposited into the bank. However, this was at a time when the yield of an investment fund included in product bundles reached a maximum level of 10.9% last year.

Initially aimed at conservative investors who take their first steps on the capital market, the Ronsmart product bundle launched by Bancpost has attracted more capital for deposits than for inves