Nicosia: Total assets under management (AUM) by Collective Investments in Cyprus rose to £10.7 billion in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a 6.64% increase compared to the previous quarter.
According to Cyprus News Agency, despite this growth, the number of Management Companies and Undertakings of Collective Investments (UCIs) slightly decreased to 322 from 328 a year earlier, marking a 1.8% decline.
Based on the quarterly statistics bulletin for the first quarter of 2025 issued by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the total number of 322 entities includes 223 Externally Managed UCIs, 30 Internally Managed UCIs, and 69 External Fund Managers. The total number of Management Companies encompasses 45 AIFMs, 46 Sub-threshold AIFMs, 3 UCITS Management Companies, and 5 dual license entities (AIFMs and UCITS Management Companies).
The Net Asset Value (NAV) of the UCIs managed by the Management Companies reached £9.9 billion in the first quarter of 2025. Among these, 63% of the AUM is managed by the AIFMs, 17% by the AIFMs and UCITS Management Companies, 9% by the Sub-threshold AIFMs, 10% by the UCITS Management Companies, and 1% by the Regulated UCIs managed by Foreign Fund Managers.
The UCITS’ Assets under Management saw 86.7% invested in Transferable Securities, 9% in UCITS and other UCIs, and 3.3% in bank deposits. For AIFs, AIFLNPs, and RAIFs, investments were distributed with 31% in Private Equity, 16.6% in Real Estate, 12.5% to Hedge Funds, and 12.3% to Funds of Funds, while the remaining 27.6% fell under ‘Other’.
In this edition of the Bulletin, for the first time, an in-depth analysis of the two largest investment categories of AIFs, AIFLNPs, and RAIFs, namely Private Equity and Other, was introduced. This new information provides managers and investors with deeper insights into capital allocation and aids in evaluating returns per strategy.
In the Private Equity sector, 36.2% of investments pertain to Growth Capital, 34.2% to multi-strategy capital, 10.1% in venture capital, and 4.5% in mezzanine financing. In the ‘Other’ category, 32.2% was invested in equity capital, 16.8% in fixed income, and 7.6% in cash and cash equivalents, with smaller allocations in commodities and infrastructure at 2.3% and 0.1%, respectively.
A total of 224 UCIs are operational, with 72.4% of the total AUM held by 198 UCIs domiciled in Cyprus, including 11 UCITS, 51 AIFs, 41 AIFLNPs, and 95 RAIFs. Of these 224 UCIs, 162 invest partially or entirely in Cyprus, amounting to £2.9 billion or 27.19% of the total AUM. Within Cyprus, 70.8% of the investments are in Private Equity, and 12.8% in Real Estate.
UCITS investors are predominantly retail investors, accounting for 99.1% of the total 8,831 investors. In contrast, AIFs, AIFLNPs, and RAIFs have 3,443 investors, with 63.4% classified as well-informed, 24.5% as professional investors, and 12.1% as retail investors.
In specific sectors, during the first quarter of 2025, Assets Under Management in the Energy sector reached £497.0 million (4.627% of total AUM), the Fintech sector £224.2 million (2.087% of total AUM), Shipping £657.3 million (6.120% of total AUM), and Sustainable Investments £104.3 million (0.971% of total AUM).