Pekao TFI targets $179M for Poland's first EU-regulated money market fund
What's the deal? Pekao TFIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Poland's oldest fund manager, is launching Pekao Rynku Pieniężnego, a money market fund that it wants to grow to at least US$175M within a year. The product is aimed at companies and institutional investors managing cash. "Within a year we expect inflows of US$175M to US$250M," said chief executive officer Marlena Janota (translated from Polish).
Why now? European money market funds drew €145 billion last year, according to Pekao TFI data, yet the category has been largely absent from Poland. The firm says such funds have been "an obvious part of the capital market for years" in Western Europe and wants to strengthen its position in the institutional segment.
What makes it rare? A decade ago, these funds nearly vanished from the Polish market after EU rules reserved the "money market fund" name only for structures meeting the bloc's regulation. Pekao's fund is built to that standard, rather than being another short-term bond product, which Analizy.pl calls a rarity locally.
What's the endgame? The fund targets a slight edge over the Polonia rate, the benchmark for overnight interbank deposits administered by the National Bank of Poland. "The priority is very low volatility of the unit," said Tomasz Pawluć, head of debt instrument management.
It will hold debt maturing within 12 months, dominated by Polish treasury bills, with smaller allocations to German, Italian, and French paper. The annual fee is 0.5%, the minimum investment US$50K, and each top-up at least US$2.5K — terms that reinforce its institutional focus.
The signal: The timing is supportive but uncertain. The National Bank of Poland held its reference rate at 3.75% in October, keeping cash yields relevant, while inflation rose to 4%, clouding the rate path. The US$175M goal is a real test of demand for a specialised liquidity product in a market where debt funds already hold 70% of Pekao's US$11.8B in assets.
Read more: pb.pl
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
