CONTEXT

• In a year full of tensions on the international economic and political scene, which has caught the vulnerable Romanian economy, Profit.ro brings into debate the challenges of financing through capital markets, organizing PROFIT PIAȚA DE CAPITAL.forum, which has reached its 5th edition this year.
• The Romanian stock exchange entered 2025 after two remarkable years, with double-digit growth, with yields among the highest in Europe, and after the largest listing in the country’s history, that of Hidroelectrica. Even though we have the third largest market in the region, we are unfortunately not as well off with liquidity, and the boom in new listings, after the signal given by Hidroelectrica, is still to be expected.
• However, the context remains tense. Prospects of slowing economic growth, major fiscal threats, after an electoral period in which public finances have seriously deepened their deficits and any reform efforts have been postponed, turbulence in international trade, under the threat of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, a war still unquenched in the immediate vicinity, high volatility in the markets. These are risks that also significantly influence the capital markets during this period, with little prospect of mitigation in the near future.
• Beyond the problematic situation, the economy has high expectations from the capital market. The need for financing through alternative means to banking has increased, especially in the context of tightening credit conditions.
• The capital market remains undersized and is not advancing at the desired pace in terms of listings and has not yet become a viable option for financing small and medium-sized businesses in Romania.
• Trading activity remains low, especially in the AeRO segment, with liquidity dominated by a few companies, and the share of stock market capitalization in GDP remains well below the EU average, with the level in Europe not even close to that overseas.

THEMES FOR DEBATE:

• What will the stock market do in 2025 after 2 years of robust growth?
• What are the stock market stories that can support a “bull” market? What can be improved in the fiscal framework?
• What happens to the liquidity of the BVB after the Hidroelectrica effervescence?
• How does the stock market maintain its free-float in the face of the voraciousness of pension funds?
• What trajectory will interest rates have?
• Do entrepreneurs find appetite for the stock market at the current levels of financing costs?
• Fidelis – impulse for the stock market or cannibalization of the demand that the private sector was counting on?
• Simplifying the message to increase the individual investor base. Is it wrong to say “play the stock market”? Perspectives for retail investors. What can attract the population to place their money on the capital market.
• Simplifying messages to attract individual investors. Is it correct to say “stock market games”? Offers for retail investors. What motivates the population to invest in the capital market.
• Risk management in times of crisis. Portfolio diversification strategies.
• ETFs versus actively managed investment funds.
• How do we revitalize the listing market? What new IPOs are anticipated, including from state-owned companies?
• Lessons from the experiences of listed companies.
• The need to increase transparency on the stock market and for listed companies. Challenges on the secondary market, with reduced liquidity.
• How easy is it for foreign investors to access Romanian shares?
• At what stage and what realistic expectations still exist for the creation of a European capital markets union?
• What regulatory changes are expected from the ASF?
• Challenges for pension funds.
• What investment opportunities do pension funds have, what measures and solutions are needed for exposure limits.
• Prospects for venture capital funds.
• Financing solutions for startups through the capital market.
• How can the corporate bond market become more active than it is now.
• The need for financial education for the capital market. What are the dysfunctional areas.
• Communication with investors: shortcomings, challenges and solutions.
• What will the derivatives market look like and what liquidity will we be able to rely on in the coming years?
• How do international tensions affect the Romanian capital market? What measures at the domestic level can mitigate the problems?

Event broadcast LIVE on Profit News TV, www.profit.ro and facebook.com/profit.ro