Rush on the shares of the Proprietatea Fund

     The shares of the Proprietatea Fund (symbol:FP) have been rising from the beginning of the year (ed. note: 21.42%, compared to a 10.3% rise for the BET index), rising above 0.5 lei/share yesterday, for the first time in the last six months.
     The rush began after the announcement that the government was almost out of shares in the Proprietatea Fund.
     The shares of the Proprietatea Fund rose 3.66% for the thirteenth day in a row, and brokers say that the rises are owed to the good evolution of the overall market, as well as the interest displayed by foreign and domestic investors.
     Last Thursday, "Manchester Securities Corp" acquired 0.96% of the Proprietatea Fund (symbol: FP), in exchange for 63.12 million lei (14.68 million Euros). As a result, American hedge fund "Elliot Associates" increased its exposure to the "Proprietatea Fund", after it had announced, in the beginning of the month, that it indirectly owns 12.5%, through "Manchester Securities" and "Beresford Energy Corp".
     *  Mihai Mureşian: "Investors are waiting for the dividends promised by the company"
     Mihai Mureşian, head of trading at "Intercapital Invest", said that "one of the main reasons behind the recent rise of the shares of the Proprietatea Fund is the fact that the market did well in the beginning of this year". He also said that another reason behind the rise is the fact that investors are waiting for the company to pay out dividends.
     *  Vlad Zaharia: There are questions whether the rise is sustainable
     Vlad Zaharia, trader at "Swiss Capital", considers that the price of the shares of the Proprietatea Fund has been rising strongly due to increasing interest from all the domestic and international shareholders.
     "Also, the deal involving 1% of the share capital of the Proprietatea Fund (ed. note: conducted by < Manchester Securities Corp >) was an important catalyst for the market", he said, and he went on to say: "The strong rise of the price, over a very short period, can lead to questions on whether it is sustainable or not". Vlad Zaharia considers that investors may remain interested in the stock.
     *  Marcel Murgoci: Investors are hoping for a dividend yield higher than inflation
     Marcel Murgoci, head of operations at "Estinvest" Focşani, considers that investors are waiting to see the financial statements of the Proprietatea Fund for the year 2011 so they can run the numbers for the possible dividend yield, hoping it might be higher than the interest rate that banks pay on deposits.
     *  Corin Trandafir: "The manager of the Fund made efforts to attract investors' attention"
     Corin Trandafir, a partner in law firm "Rubin Meyer Doru & Trandafir", which represents the heirs of the Malaxa and Auschnitt families, claims that one of the reasons behind the rise of the stock of the Proprietatea Fund is the fact that the manager of the Fund (ed. note: Franklin Templeton) made considerable efforts to attract investors' attention. Also, another factor behind the rise is the fact that the government owns a very small number of shares in the Proprietatea Fund and no more new shares will be issued, meaning that the supply and demand ratio gets reversed.
     *  Simion Tihon: "The shares of the Proprietatea Fund are still trading at a significant discount"
     Simion Tihon, broker at "Prime Transaction", considers that it is also the announcement that by the end of the year, the companies in the portfolio of the Proprietatea Fund would get listed has a rather significant impact on the evolution of the shares of the Proprietatea Fund.
     "We shouldn't forget that even though they have risen almost 20%, the shares of the Proprietatea Fund are still trading at a significant discount compared to the net assets", Simion Tihon concluded.