OREANDA-NEWS. Individual investment accounts (IIAs) are on track to grow 2.5 times by the end of 2016 both in number and volume, provided the current paces of growth hold, according to the first Individual Investment Accounts analytical review prepared by the Bank of Russia's Securities Market and Commodity Market Department as of year-end 2015.

From 1 January 2015, individual investment accounts enable the population to invest funds and securities, through trust or brokerage service agreements. IIAs are special in the way that they entitle their holders to tax exemption if they have kept money in the account for at least three years.

As of late 2015, as many as 89.6 thousand IIAs were registered in Russia, with their balance totalling 5.1 billion rubles. As many as 93.4% of such accounts are held with six major companies, whose data suggest that the share of brokerage and trust accounts in IIAs are 95 and 5%, respectively.

The average rate of IIA number growth was 25% a month, with the balance they carry rising on average 33% a month.

The average account in 2015 carried 57 thousand ruble, while December saw an upsurge in the balance of 70%. According to the review, the stock markets accounts for the bulk of IIA transactions (74%).

Based on the available data, analysts predict that the number of individual investment accounts will total in excess of 240 thousand by the end of 2016, with the amount of funds they hold rising to 12 billion rubles.