Development and investment structure of investment funds in Republic of Croatia

Investicijski fondovi, djelujući kao institucionalni ulagači, nakon pribavljanja novčanih sredstava dalje ulažu ta prikupljena sredstva u cilju ostvarivanja prinosa. Priča o investicijskim fondovima u Republici Hrvatskoj započela je krajem sedamdesetih godina. Međutim, bilo je potrebno puno vremena, izmjene starih i uvođenja novih zakona, od Zakona o hrvatskom domovinskom fondu do Zakona o otvorenim investicijskim fondovima s javnom ponudom i Zakona o alternativnim investicijskim fondovima, nove regulative za osnivanje fondova, da bi investicijski fondovi poprimili oblik kakav imaju trenutačno. U odnosu na dinamičan razvoj investicijskih fondova u svijetu, u Republici Hrvatskoj investicijski fondovi su relativno nove financijske institucije, međutim, rast njihovog broja i neto vrijednosti imovine pokazuje nam kako je i u Republici Hrvatskoj prisutan veliki rast i razvoj investicijskih fondova. Danas, prema stranicama Hanfe, investicijski fondovi se dijele u dvije vrste, na UCITS fondove i alternativne investicijske fondove. Strategija ulaganja investicijskih fondova ovisi o kojoj se vrsti investicijskih fondova radi i njihovim karakteristikama. Tako, novčani i obvezniči fondovi ulažu najviše u sigurne financijske instrumente jer preferiraju siguran i konstantan rast prinosa, bez preuzimanja velikog rizika. A s druge strane, dionički fondovi koje ne zabrinjava preuzimanje određenog rizika, ulažu u dionice, koje se smatraju rizičnom skupinom, u cilju ostvarivanja visokog prinosa.Investment funds, acting as institutional investors, invest collected financial assets to further generate income. In the Republic of Croatia, the investment funds were first mentioned at the end of the seventies. However, in order for investment funds to be in today's form Croatia needed to pass legislative reform, from Act on the Fund for Croatian Homeland to Act on open-end investments funds with public offering and the alternative investment funds Act, as well as creating new regulations for establishing of new funds. Despite the fact that in comparison to dynamic development of funds in the world, in the Republic of Croatia investment funds are relatively new financial institutions, still the growth of the number of funds as well as net value shows that in the Republic of Croatia there is an increase of development of investment funds. Presently, as per Hanfa, investment funds are divided into two categories UCITS and alternative investment funds. Investment strategies depend on the type of the investment funds and their characteristics. For example, money funds and bond funds are investing in low risk financial instruments with a higher chance of assured return. On the other hand, equity funds aren't distressed about taking a risk investing in a high risk stock as it gives a greater potential for high returns