A study conducted by "Globes" has revealed that 20 mutual funds invested more than 1% of their assets in shares and bonds issued by the bankrupt real estate group Heftsiba Building Development & Investments Ltd.. The study also reveals that a substantial number of those funds with high rates of exposure to Heftsiba are managed by investment houses which played a role in the issue of these securities through their underwriting arms. Among those involved are DS Apex Holdings Ltd. (TASE:DSAP), Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. (TASE:ANLT), Quatro Financial Markets, Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY.PK), and Altshuler Shacham Ltd.
Heading the list of funds exposed to Heftsiba prior to its collapse is the "Apex Real Estate" fund, which held 4.19% of Heftsiba Jerusalem Ltd. (TASE:HFZJ). According to a report by Apex, the fund will shed 5.33% in net value following a revaluation of the assets. Three other Apex funds, "Apex Yeter Team," "Apex Tsua," and "Apex Team T.A 75", were also badly hit by the failed investment in Heftsiba bonds.
In second place came Epsilon Investment House Ltd. with its "Epsilon Tsua Plus" fund, 3.33% of whose assets were invested in Heftsiba bonds, as at the end of June. Quatro came third with its "Quatro Company Bond" fund, with 2.88% of its assets in Heftsiba bonds.
Both the Epsilon and Quatro funds have recorded negative returns since the beginning of August, probably as a result of their investment in Heftsiba. "Epsilon Tsua Plus" has recorded a negative return of 9.3% since the beginning of the month, while "Quatro Company Bond" has recorded a negative return of 7.6% during the same period. Both funds underperformed their own comparative index.
In fourth place came Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MGDL) with its "Migdal Dikla Company Bond" fund, which invested 2.37% of its assets in Heftsiba bonds.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 20, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007