SANTIAGO — While international managers face continued roadblocks when trying to distribute their mutual funds to institutions in major Latin American countries, they have had the pedal to the metal in Chile for a good year now.
And their efforts have paid off. Since August 2002, more than $3.3 billion in Chilean pension fund assets went into international mutual funds. The primary driver behind the growth is a loosening of investment limits by the Chilean government. International mutual fund managers have enjoyed a doubling of previous limits for mutual fund investments by privatized Chilean pension fund managers, known as AFPs.
In August 2002, the Legislature approved giving the Central Bank authority to set maximum overall AFP international allocations at 30%, up from the previous 20%.