The CEO of the bank, Christos Megalou, emphasized that Piraeus is a leader in the field of alternative investments
The significant scope for the development of alternative investments that exist and the opportunities presented were discussed at the seminar on “Alternative Investments: Developments, Trends and Prospects” organized by the Wealth and Asset Management pillar of Piraeus Bank.
The aim of the conference was to inform the Bank’s clients, both institutional and private, about the wide range of alternative investments that are available and offer potential for high returns. Alternative investments include many categories of investments, with different characteristics of risk, return and correlation with traditional markets, including investments in private equity & debt funds, hedge funds, real estate that includes both private funds and listed companies Investments in real estate (REITs / REITs).
At the event, the CEO of Piraeus Bank, Mr. Christos Megalou, addressed a greeting, who emphasized that Piraeus is a pioneer in the field of alternative investments, having created and financed one of the first funds in Greece, and with more emphasis from July 2022, when it acquired Iolcus Investments AEDOEE, which is active in alternative investments. “In Greece, with the exception of family offices, alternative investments from institutional portfolios are limited, mainly due to the size of the portfolios they manage”, noted Mr. Megalou and estimated that the growth of the market in the coming years, with the increase of the funds of the pension funds, as well as with the adoption of the new European legislation for the European Long Term Investment Funds which gives the possibility of investing in private equity funds with smaller amounts, are expected to give a boost to the domestic market of alternative investments.
Mr. Achilleas Kontogouris, Senior General Manager, Chief Wealth & Asset Management Officer of Piraeus Bank, who coordinated the conference, noted “Piraeus Bank will further strengthen its range of alternative investments, offering new strategies in products and markets where the Group has a comparative advantage and will enable its clients to enrich their portfolio, increasing returns.”
The keynote speaker of the conference was Mr. Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, Managing Director, Cross – Asset Market Strategy of JP Morgan, who spoke about the perspectives and strategy of alternative investments internationally. It is, as he said, a market that flourished after the pandemic and now corresponds to 15.4% of total investments internationally, amounting to approximately 28 trillion. dollars. He noted that it mainly includes long-term placements that yield for investors with a similar horizon, such as insurance funds and other institutional investors.
Mr. Kostis Rokas, Managing Director of CVC Athens referred to Private Equity funds and pointed out that their investments have a long-term nature and are characterized by the participation of investors in the management and activity of the companies. Federico Riggio, CIO of Helikon Investments Limited, mentioned investments in hedge funds, pointing out that as a hedge fund cannot be competitive in all markets, emphasis is placed on markets and sectors where the fund has the necessary knowledge and with a time horizon horizon to identify opportunities that the market values differently.
For his part, Mr. Pantelis Protogeros, Associate, Global Listed Real Assets of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, emphasized that this particular market is viewed with a medium-long term horizon. Mr. Manos Drosatakis, General Manager & CIO of Iolcus Investments AEDOEE analyzed the Greek alternative investment market, noting that today it amounts to 6 billion euros, with the largest part consisting of investments in AEEAP amounting to 4.7 billion euros. A smaller part of the market is the private equity funds, which correspond to 1.2 billion euros, while in this sector several capital raising movements are underway, which are estimated at around 1 billion euros.
