24 December 2015News

BMA publishes portfolio investment survey results

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has unveiled the results of Bermuda’s coordinated portfolio investment survey (CPIS) for the first time.

Conducted annually under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the survey collects information on economies’ cross-border holdings of portfolio investment securities.

The survey found that Bermuda’s financial services entities have a sizeable and significant share of foreign portfolio holdings (65 percent of Bermuda’s financial services assets).

This amounted to $516 billion in 2014, a 16 percent increase from 2013, attributed to the growth of the financial services industry in Bermuda.

Additionally, foreign portfolio holdings in Bermuda consist mainly of debt securities, amounting to $423 billion, representing 82 percent of total holdings.

Bermuda’s foreign portfolio holdings are broken down by subsectors - insurance, investment funds and banking. The insurance subsector heavily dominates foreign portfolio holdings with an ownership share of 82 percent (or $426 billion).

Investment funds were the second-largest subsector accounting for 16 percent, followed by banking with 2 percent.

The BMA explained that geographically, US holdings dominated Bermuda’s foreign portfolio investment assets, accounting for 52 percent of total holdings.

This was followed by issuances by Canada and the UK which accounted for 5 percent each. The Cayman Islands, Ireland and Luxembourg followed with a 4 percent share each, with remaining countries’ shares of 2 percent or less each.