Development and Perspectives of Institutional Investors in the Republic of Croatia

Project leader: Prof. Bojana Olgić Draženović, PhD - EFRI


Members of the project team:
Prof. Vesna Buterin, PhD - EFRI
Prof. Maja Grdinić, PhD - EFRI
Prof. Zdenko Prohaska, PhD - EFRI
Stella Suljić Nikolaj, PhD - EFRI
Monika Brzović - PhD student EFRI

Prof. Slađana Benković, PhD - Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, Serbia

Key words: financial system, financial markets, securities, institutional investors, pension funds, investment funds, insurance companies, institutional reforms, economic growth, Republic of Croatia 

The financial system is essential for any national economy, because its development and efficiency support investments and growth. Efficient financial system channel the financial funds towards economically justified investments. The development process of financial architecture ranges from banking to market structure, emphasizing the role of institutional investors and their increasingly sophisticated services and products. Over the last decades, the dominant position of banks is threatened by the development of non-bank financial institutions, primarily pension funds, insurance companies and investment funds. Therefore, it seemed justified to explore the nature and implications of the "institutionalization of savings" process as the main determinant of the evolution of the financial structure. The aim of the project is to explore the possible ways in which the development of institutional investors can improve economic development. Furthermore, the project will explaine the determinants of the development of institutional investors in the Republic of Croatia and the comparative countries of the EU as well as the selected countries of Southeast Europe. In this context, pension reform or capitalization of savings is a fundamental determinant of the development of institutional investors.