The upgrade of the Greek stock exchange and, primarily, the increase in trading volume in banking shares brought onto their shareholder registers new state pension funds, as well as investment funds from Asia.
According to data from the Interactive Brokers platform for October, the state pension fund of Canada, CPP, has reportedly acquired 1.97% of the shares of National Bank of Greece, while at Eurobank, for the first time, the investment house Fuh HWA Securities from Taiwan appears as a buyer.
New players
The appearance of new «players» on the Greek stock exchange, beyond European and American funds, did not take place automatically due to the upgrade, but only when daily trading volume in banks increased to such an extent that entry became feasible for investment funds managing high levels of assets under management. The arrival of these investors had been heralded by Greek representatives from American banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, who had highlighted the need to increase daily liquidity in order to bring to Athens investors from North America, Asia, and the Middle East.
However, the arrival of such investment funds on the Greek stock market constitutes an example of the liquidity that can be attracted in view of the official upgrade (May 2027), even though Greece's weighting remains low compared to the rest of the developed markets.
Canada's state CPP, based in Toronto, possesses assets under management of 863 billion dollars and secures pensions for more than 22 million Canadians.
It holds investments in 52 countries globally and maintains 361 international partnerships.
Characteristically, among sovereign funds for the period 2016-2025, it has recorded an average annual return of 8.34% on its capital. For 2026, the return has risen to 9.4%, while it has cumulative net income of 459 billion dollars over a ten-year period.
In October, however, among the buyers in the stock of Eurobank, Taiwanese investment firm Fuh Hwa appeared with a purchase of 700 thousand shares, which likewise manages funds amounting to 870 billion dollars in local currency.
BlackRock: Purchases and sales in October across all banks
Based on aggregated data from Interactive for October, the largest moves across all banks were carried out by BlackRock, both in purchases and sales.
Specifically, in Alpha Bank, BlackRock Institutional was a buyer with 381.5 thousand shares, while the seller with 415 thousand shares was BlackRock Advisors. In Eurobank, BlackRock Institutional proceeded with purchases of 1.35 million shares, while the seller was BlackRock Asset Management. Another seller was State Street Management with 281 thousand shares, and the buyer with 286.3 thousand shares was First Trust Advisors.
In the stock of National Bank of Greece as well, the buyer was BlackRock Institutional with 222 thousand shares and the largest seller was BlackRock Asset Management with 221.2 thousand shares. BlackRock Institutional proceeded with purchases of 423 thousand shares of Piraeus Bank, First Trust Advisors with 663 thousand shares, and State Street Investments with 223 thousand shares. Conversely, the seller in Piraeus Bank with 280.5 thousand shares was BlackRock Asset Management.
Dimitris Pafilas
dpafilas@yahoo.com
www.bankingnews.gr
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