Strong positions, one month ahead of the upgrades, were rushed into by US banks and fund management giants, as well as emerging markets Hedge Funds seeking to capitalize on the juncture. As indicated by Interactive platform orders at the end of August, US bank JP Morgan, Fidelity International, Fiera Capital, Invesco Capital, Blackrock Institutional, Fidelity Management, and Mirae Asset Management were the largest buyers of Greek bank stocks at the end of August. These represent indicative aggregate positions at the end of each month, showing their stake in each bank based on their disclosures. As seen in certain cases, there are steady buyers, such as JP Morgan in National Bank of Greece stock, which was a buyer throughout July and August. Another steady buyer was Mirae Asset Management, which manages the Greek ETF GREK in the US. In upcoming Friday's session, inflows due to the upgrade (Stoxx-FTSE) are expected to exceed 2 billion euros, while total turnover is estimated to surpass the 3 billion euro turnover of 2008 when OTE was sold to Germany's Deutsche Telekom. The main question remains how the market will behave post-upgrade. Given that foreign investors have built large positions in Greek banks, they have a window of three months to decide their strategy regarding the May elections.
Eurobank
At Eurobank, Blackrock Advisors was among the largest buyers at the end of August with 1.85 million shares, along with Mirae Asset Management with 507 thousand shares. The latter is connected to the entity managing the Greek ETF GREK, and as will be shown, was a buyer across most banks. Conversely, a major seller of Eurobank during August was Fidelity Management with 1.67 million shares. At the end of July, however, Eurizon Capital was a buyer of Eurobank stock with 1.92 million shares. Eurizon Capital is a subsidiary of Italian bank Intesa and has signed a cooperation agreement with Eurobank in the field of asset management. At the end of July, buyers of Eurobank shares also included British firm Schroders with 3.86 million shares, Vanguard Capital with 1.02 million shares, and Ninety One SA with 1.8 million shares. Conversely, well-known fund in the Greek market Fiera Capital was a seller with 783 thousand shares.
Alpha Bank
The largest buyer of Alpha Bank was Hedge fund Fiera Capital, which acquired a position of 11.32 million shares. Vanguard Capital bought 611.8 thousand shares, Blackrock Advisors 494.9 thousand shares, State Street 374.7 thousand shares, and Mirae Asset Management 308 thousand shares. At the end of July, a major buyer of Alpha Bank stock was British firm Schroders with 3.59 million shares, while the seller, as reported by Bankingnews, was Fidelity Management with 10.4 million shares. It is noted that Alpha Bank is the cheapest bank, holding a price-to-earnings ratio P/E of 9.5 and a price-to-tangible book value ratio of 1.2.
National Bank of Greece
A steady buyer of National Bank of Greece stock during August and July was JP Morgan, raising its stake to 1.13%. At the end of August, it proceeded with purchases of 1.98 million shares, having also made two purchases in July of 1.4 million and 713 thousand shares respectively. Last month, however, Fidelity International was also a buyer with 1.83 million shares, whereas Fidelity Management was a seller with 710 thousand shares. This reflects a change in investor category ahead of the Greek market upgrade. Among buyers were also Blackrock Advisors with 283 thousand shares and UBS Asset Management with 211.1 thousand shares. On the sellers' side of National Bank shares in August were MFS Investments with 345 thousand shares and Schroders with 217 thousand shares.
Piraeus Bank
With 1.02 million shares, US investment firm Invesco Capital Management was the largest buyer of Piraeus Bank stock at the end of August. It is followed by Janus Henderson Investments with 319.2 thousand shares, Mirae Asset Management with 219.1 thousand shares, and American Century Investments with 200.7 thousand shares. Sellers were Blackrock Advisors with 876.2 thousand shares and Columbia Threadneedle with 603.8 thousand shares. At the end of July, Vanguard Capital was also a major buyer with 439.5 thousand Piraeus Bank shares.
Dimitris Pafilas
dpafilas@yahoo.com
www.bankingnews.gr
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