The market value of family securities portfolios increased from 33.5 billion euros at the end of 2019 to 49.6 billion euros at the end of 2024, according to data released by the Bank of Portugal (BdP).
This 16.1 billion euro increase was mainly attributed to transactions and price fluctuations, as noted by the BdP.
Over the past five years, the portfolio value for families only decreased between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022, a period when both transactions and price changes were negative.
By the end of 2024, 70% of the family securities portfolio consisted of investment fund shares, compared to 58% in December 2019.
Similarly, the significance of listed shares in family investment portfolios grew, increasing its share from 14% in December 2019 to 17% by the end of 2024.
Conversely, the significance of debt securities in family investment portfolios decreased by 15 percentage points, accounting for 12% of the total by the end of 2024.
The BdP’s data also indicates that by the end of last year, 58% of the family securities portfolio was comprised of instruments issued by resident entities, compared to 69% in December 2019.
Resident fund shares accounted for 65% of the total investment in this instrument at the end of 2024, a share that remained “relatively constant” throughout the period analyzed.
In December 2024, the central bank also highlighted shares issued by funds in Luxembourg and Ireland, which collectively represented 32% of that aggregate.
The data notes that “this structure practically did not change between the end of 2019 and the end of 2024.”
In listed shares, investment in securities issued by residents was partially replaced by investment in securities issued by the rest of the world.
Thus, the share of securities issued by residents decreased from 67% in December 2019 to 47% in December 2024, with notable growth among non-resident issuers, particularly the United States, increasing from 11% in 2019 to 30% in 2024.
In debt securities, the relevance of securities issued by entities residing in Portugal decreased from 77% to 33%.
Conversely, there was an increase in the proportion of debt securities issued, notably by residents in the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United States, and Germany, which in December 2024 accounted for between 13% and 6% of the total.
Regarding the institutional sector of the issuer, during the analyzed period, the BdP highlighted a reduction in the weight of debt securities issued by public administrations.
