How does households' wealth affect portfolio choices?

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify the determinants of households’ preferences regarding financial asset allocation. It investigates the structures of households’ financial asset portfolios in 15 euro area countries. It assumes three risk classes and presents a comprehensive picture of an average portfolio at the domestic and euro area levels. Methodology: The research is based on the Eurosystem HFCS data. It applies the fractional multinomial logit model which allows analysing parallel movements in all shares of portfolio components resulting from the changes in households’ wealth. Findings: The results obtained allow drawing conclusions about the heterogeneity of households’ investment preferences on the financial markets across the euro area. However, in all analysed member countries, deposits can be perceived as a component of primary importance as well as a substitute to voluntary pension plans and whole life insurance contracts. The results from the fractional multinomial logit model lead to a general finding that wealthier households are more open to risk exposure than those less affluent. The most useful wealth measures regarding the aim of the study were net wealth, total financial assets, and annual gross incomes. Their adoption to the model allowed identifying the countries like France, Finland, or Italy where the effect of the deepening changes in portfolio structure caused by the continuous increase in households’ wealth was identified. Additionally, Austria, Finland, France, and Italy were recognised as the member states of the most significant differences in this regard between the most distant classes of households - the poorest and the most affluent. Practical implications: This study allows cross-country comparison of the investment preferences of the households characterised by similar financial standing. The results obtained are relevant to the discussion on households' portfolio choices, and growth potentials of the retail financial market in the euro area. Originality/Value: The main contribution of this study to the literature is the knowledge on how the differentiated wealth of the euro area households influences the risk profiles of their financial asset portfolios.peer-reviewe

The Heterogeneity of the Eurozone Populations in Deposits’ Possession and Its Implications for Credit Institutions’ Funding Stability

The European Union single liquidity standards - Liquidity Coverage Ratio and Net Stable Funding Ratio – point out household deposits as preferred, stable funding for credit institutions, under normal and stress conditions. The introduction of standards affects not only funding stability of entities, but also their future development opportunities. In countries with populations of low propensity to hold deposits this impact is expected to be negative. The implementation of common standards in a group of diverse countries of the Eurozone seems to be a task of compromised effectiveness. During the last financial and economic crises individual populations were unequally capable to place deposits with credit institutions, leading to significant differences in their average levels per capita in the member states. The aim of this paper is to identify the determinants of the Eurozone’s geographic disparities in the populations’ ability to provide deposits to domestic credit institutions, in selected years: 2006, 2008 and 2012. The indicated periods refer to significantly different macroeconomic background. The results of empirical analysis demonstrate the priority impact of precise variables, referred to the financial market and national economies on the formation of the levels of household deposits per capita in the Euro area. The variables representing household features appear as less important for the considered problem

Kredyty dla gospodarstw domowych strefy euro w okresie restrykcyjnej polityki kredytowej banków i niestandardowych działań Eurosystemu

Theoretical background: The article presents the problem of the diversity of euro area countries in terms of lending to households by banks, in the context of restrictive lending policy and the non-standard measures taken by the Eurosystem to liberalize it. Limited availability of loans for the non-financial sector and its negative economic effects were the result of the global financial crisis.Purpose of the article: The aim of the study is to analyze the development of loans to households in the euro area in the period from August 2007 to December 2018. It was important to assess their variability in time and spatial differentiation in two sub-periods – the financial crisis with continuing destabilization financial market and non-standard ECB solutions aimed at reviving banks’ lending activities.Research methods: The study used figures related to the credit institutions’ sector receivables and household sector indebtedness for loans in individual euro area countries. The characteristics of local conditions in the area of examined loans were based on selected descriptive statistics, and the taxonomic method was used to identify their similarity.Main findings: The results of the survey showed significant heterogeneity of the euro area countries in terms of the features of the household loan market in both periods of the survey. However, analyzing the changes taking place showed that their direction was consistent in most Member States.Uzasadnienie teoretyczne: W artykule zostal opisany problem zróżnicowania krajów strefy euro pod względem kredytowania gospodarstw domowych przez banki w warunkach restrykcyjnej polityki kredytowej i podejmowania przez Eurosystem niestandardowych działań na rzecz jej liberalizacji. Ograniczona dostępność kredytów dla sektora niefinansowego oraz jej negatywne skutki gospodarcze były pokłosiem globalnego kryzysu finansowego.Cel artykułu: Analiza kształtowania się kredytów dla gospodarstw domowych w krajach strefy euro w okresie od sierpnia 2007 r. do grudnia 2018 r. Za ważną uznano ocenę ich zmienności w czasie oraz przestrzennego zróżnicowania w dwóch podokresach – kryzysu finansowego z utrzymującą się po nim destabilizacją rynku finansowego oraz niestandardowych rozwiązań EBC, mających na celu ożywienie działalności kredytowej banków.Metody badawcze: W badaniu wykorzystano dane liczbowe odnoszące się do należności sektorów instytucji kredytowych oraz zadłużenia sektorów gospodarstw domowych z tytułu kredytów w poszczególnych krajach strefy euro. Charakterystykę lokalnych uwarunkowań w zakresie badanych kredytów przeprowadzono na podstawie wybranych statystyk opisowych, a do identyfikacji ich podobieństwa zastosowano metodę taksonomiczną.Główne wnioski: Wyniki badania wykazały istotną heterogeniczność krajów strefy euro pod względem cech rynku kredytów dla gospodarstw domowych w obu okresach badania. Analiza zachodzących na nim zmian pozwoliła jednak stwierdzić zgodność ich kierunku w większości państw członkowskich

Portfele aktywów finansowych gospodarstw domowych krajów strefy euro – podobieństwa i różnice

This paper presents the average financial asset portfolios of households in 15 countries of the euro area, identifying differences and similarities between them. Attention is also paid to the non-equal scale of financial exclusion of individuals from acquisitions of investment products. The households possessing such assets were characterised by diverse preferences in terms of their values and structures. Despite existing differences, the results allowed to identify the most important component of the portfolio on a supranational scale, which turned out to be deposits. The focus on this category of financial assets led to a poor diversification of portfolios, usually constituted by up to two components. There was observed a substitutability between certain products, however, not the same in the entire group of countries. Despite the multifaceted differences, the subgroups of countries with similar components were identified.W pracy scharakteryzowano wzorcowe portfele aktywów finansowych gospodarstw domowych w 15 krajach strefy euro, wskazując na występujące między nimi różnice i podobieństwa. Uwagę zwrócono na niejednolitą na badanym obszarze skalę zjawiska wykluczenia finansowego w zakresie nabywania instrumentów o charakterze lokacyjnym i inwestycyjnym. Dla zbiorowości gospodarstw domowych posiadających takie zaangażowanie, określono ich preferencje wyrażone wartościami i strukturami całkowitych aktywów. Pomimo identyfikacji istotnych różnic między krajami, wyniki badania pozwoliły ustalić najważniejszy w skali ponadnarodowej składnik portfela, którym okazały się depozyty. Koncentracja uwagi i ukierunkowanie działań na posiadanie tej kategorii aktywów finansowych skutkowały słabą dywersyfikacją portfeli, składających się najczęściej z co najwyżej dwóch komponentów. W analizowanych krajach potwierdzono występowanie zjawiska substytucyjności między wybranymi składnikami portfeli, lecz nie były one tożsame w całej grupie krajów. Pomimo różnic występujących w badanym obszarze geograficznym, możliwe było zidentyfikowanie podgrup państw, w których portfele aktywów finansowych cechowały się podobieństwem

Does the Pan‑European Personal Pension Product Suit All? Its Perspectives in the EU Member and Candidate Countries

This article aims to verify the development prospects of the Pan‑European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) in the European Union (EU). It focuses on the relationship between the quality of domestic public pension schemes and household savings for old age in the EU member and candidate countries. The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage examined the interrelationship between public pension schemes and household savings based on Pearson’s correlation coefficients. In the second stage, sub‑samples of countries with high and low‑quality public pension schemes were identified using hierarchical cluster analysis. The results showed significant links between households’ obligatory and voluntary saving for retirement in both samples. However, the study recognised the internal diversity of countries in terms of households’ preferences for the types of financial assets. Based on these findings, conclusions about the development potential of PEPP are drawn. The best prospects are identified for Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. In most of these countries (except for France, Hungary, Romania, and Spain), the PEPP could serve as an alternative to household liquid assets. However, in Croatia, France and Italy, it was recognised as competing with existing domestic retirement and life insurance products, which may negatively impact its development. This is the first comprehensive study of the prospects of PEPP in a large group of countries. The results provide socially essential knowledge as they address the role of private savings in supplementing households’ future income from public pension schemes, considering the availability of a new product such as PEPP

The rotation-coupled sliding of EcoRV

It has been proposed that certain type II restriction enzymes (REs), such as EcoRV, track the helical pitch of DNA as they diffuse along DNA, a so-called rotation-coupled sliding. As of yet, there is no direct experimental observation of this phenomenon, but mounting indirect evidence gained from single-molecule imaging of RE–DNA complexes support the hypothesis. We address this issue by conjugating fluorescent labels of varying size (organic dyes, proteins and quantum dots) to EcoRV, and by fusing it to the engineered Rop protein scRM6. Single-molecule imaging of these modified EcoRVs sliding along DNA provides us with their linear diffusion constant (D1), revealing a significant size dependency. To account for the dependence of D1 on the size of the EcoRV label, we have developed four theoretical models describing different types of motion along DNA and find that our experimental results are best described by rotation-coupled sliding of the protein. The similarity of EcoRV to other type II REs and DNA binding proteins suggests that this type of motion could be widely preserved in other biological contexts

mKikGR, a Monomeric Photoswitchable Fluorescent Protein

The recent demonstration and utilization of fluorescent proteins whose fluorescence can be switched on and off has greatly expanded the toolkit of molecular and cell biology. These photoswitchable proteins have facilitated the characterization of specifically tagged molecular species in the cell and have enabled fluorescence imaging of intracellular structures with a resolution far below the classical diffraction limit of light. Applications are limited, however, by the fast photobleaching, slow photoswitching, and oligomerization typical for photoswitchable proteins currently available. Here, we report the molecular cloning and spectroscopic characterization of mKikGR, a monomeric version of the previously reported KikGR that displays high photostability and switching rates. Furthermore, we present single-molecule imaging experiments that demonstrate that individual mKikGR proteins can be localized with a precision of better than 10 nanometers, suggesting their suitability for super-resolution imaging

Continued primer synthesis at stalled replication forks contributes to checkpoint activation

An increased number of primer–template junctions generated by PCNA, Pol-δ, and Pol-ε at stalled replication forks activates Chk1

TRF1 and TRF2 use different mechanisms to find telomeric DNA but share a novel mechanism to search for protein partners at telomeres

Human telomeres are maintained by the shelterin protein complex in which TRF1 and TRF2 bind directly to duplex telomeric DNA. How these proteins find telomeric sequences among a genome of billions of base pairs and how they find protein partners to form the shelterin complex remains uncertain. Using single-molecule fluorescence imaging of quantum dot-labeled TRF1 and TRF2, we study how these proteins locate TTAGGG repeats on DNA tightropes. By virtue of its basic domain TRF2 performs an extensive 1D search on nontelomeric DNA, whereas TRF1's 1D search is limited. Unlike the stable and static associations observed for other proteins at specific binding sites, TRF proteins possess reduced binding stability marked by transient binding (? 9-17 s) and slow 1D diffusion on specific telomeric regions. These slow diffusion constants yield activation energy barriers to sliding ? 2.8-3.6 ?(B)T greater than those for nontelomeric DNA. We propose that the TRF proteins use 1D sliding to find protein partners and assemble the shelterin complex, which in turn stabilizes the interaction with specific telomeric DNA. This 'tag-team proofreading' represents a more general mechanism to ensure a specific set of proteins interact with each other on long repetitive specific DNA sequences without requiring external energy sources