Oriental appeal

On September 18, London-based bank HSBC began offering its Global Investment Fund products in Poland. HSBC's sub-fund products target individual and institutional customers, pension funds, insurance companies, international organizations and corporate customers. The minimum investment to enter one of the funds is $5,000 (zł.13,497), but investors should be aware of the currency risk as the value of investments will fluctuate with the US dollar.

"We believe HSBC's funds will progress to be one of the top three funds in Poland within two to three years," said Piotr Klinowski, director of the bank's investment-fund sales department in Poland.

At the moment, PW Consulting is the only distributor of the funds. Next week, however, other financial institutions, including HSBC Bank Polska, should begin to offer them.

HSBC Group Investment Businesses, which will coordinate the funds, comprises three separate institutions: HSBC Investments, Halbis and Sinopia. As of June 2007, the combined assets of these firms amounted to $356 (zł.961.4) billion.

The Global Investment Fund offers over 40 investment sub-funds - including Indian Equity, Chinese Equity or Global Emerging Markets Bond products - and more choices will soon be offered. While it is novel in Poland to invest in Far Eastern markets, HSBC Investments' managing director for the CEE region, Heiner Weber, said, "We won't have to convince Polish investors to put their money there. I believe they are waiting to invest on the fastest developing markets in the world."

Poland is the last country in the CEE region where HSBC's investment funds are being offered.       

Anna Kalembasiak