The securities market watchdog attributes the trend to the bearish global stock markets towards the end of 2018 and, to a lesser extent, the first net outflow of assets since 2013.

Slovenians had a per capita average of EUR 1,234 in mutual funds at the end of the year, compared to EUR 1,330 in 2017.

According to the European Fund and Asset Management Association, in EU member states this average is estimated at almost EUR 19,000 per capita.

"This suggests that the potential for increasing savings in mutual funds in Slovenia is still high," the agency said in its report on the state of the financial instruments market in 2018.

In 2018, mutual funds recorded the second consecutive year of growth in the total number of investors. At just under 440,000 at the end of 2017, the number of investors increased to nearly 445,000 by the end of 2018.

The ATVP notes that Slovenian investors in mutual funds still exhibit a relatively high risk tendency, since equity funds accounted for as much as 59% of total assets, while assets in mixed funds accounted for 30% of all total asset sunder management.

In the EU, the allocation of funds was much more balanced, with a larger share of assets being invested in bond funds and money market funds.