Argentine pension funds' net investment in equities amounted to U.S.$40.8 million in September, compared with an average of $78.6 million per month for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, according to Salomon Brothers' Latin American equity research.
September's amount represented only 14% of total revenue, below the 27% of revenue invested in August and the second-lowest this year, after April. The funds' allocation to equities remained at 23% in September -- the same level as in August.
Pension funds were taking profits in shares of oil company YPF Sociedad, whose price increased sharply, said analyst Martin Ruete Jr. in Buenos Aires. In September, the funds divested $23.9 million of YPF shares, Salomon Brothers reported. The largest stock investments by the pension funds that month were in Telefonica, in which funds bought $16.7 million, CEI, $13.9 million and Perez Companc, $13.3 million.
