Bankinter Gestión de Activos

Market volatility arising from both domestic and global political uncertainty prevented assets from yielding the expected returns in the first half of 2016. In turn, this caused many investors to exit funds or, in the best of cases, to abandon high-risk funds and take shelter in more conservative options. As a consequence, there was a concentration in funds that were guaranteed or benchmarked (to interest rates, for example), while equity funds saw a considerable setback.

In the final stretch of the year, once a new government had been formed in Spain and the presidential elections had been held in the United States, the markets began to return to normal. There was a return to equities, above all in combination with fixed income, and this led to an upturn in both mixed funds and pure equity funds that went in tandem with the market, at least in the case of Bankinter. The average fee, which had fallen continuously in the first six or seven months, began to recover gradually after the summer, thus closing the year with results that compare well with those of 2015.

For Bankinter Gestión de Activos - the Group's company specialised in collective investment - to succeed in a year this challenging, its strategy of ensuring greater customer proximity was to prove vital. We advised customers on the best way to achieve maximum preservation of their capital and to attain returns, even if small ones. The aim was, in short, to place loyalty above all other considerations.

The detailed results were as follows:

• Investment funds. Assets under managed ended 2016 at 7,620 million euros, which is 2.73% higher than in 2015. At present, the management company is the ninth ranked Spanish asset manager, with a market share of 3.24%. The figure of assets under management amounts to 13,837 million if we include all the investment funds marketed, including those of international managers, which results in a yearly improvement of 1.9%. Especially strong was the performance of the fund 'Bankinter Sostenibilidad', which achieved profitability of 7.3%, one of the highest levels among the Group's equity funds. Clearly, a highlight again this year was the performance of the fund Bankinter Dividendo Europa, which outperformed the benchmark and attached 7.4% profitability during the year. It is undoubtedly one of the reference funds in the European equity market.
• Sicavs. At the end of 2016 the Bank managed 451 such funds in all, with 7,616 participants and equity totalling 2,865 million euros. During the year, proposals were made to customers to prepare for possible changes in the regulations that govern these investment vehicles.
• Pension funds. Bankinter offers a broad range of options, allowing the bank to attain a total of 2,222 million euros in retirement products. This represented an increase of 6.5% over the previous year.
• Delegated management. This service, which is offered not only to customers in the highest segment of Private Banking, but also to Personal Banking and Retail Banking, constitutes one of Bankinter's clear commitments. Assets managed under delegation amounted to 4,115 million euros at 31 December. Customers continue to show confidence in the expert, professional management Bankinter provides to all its customers, where preservation of capital at challenging times is one of the main objectives of its work.