Functioning of Investment Funds in Republic of Macedonia in Terms of Changing Environment

This paper deals with the functioning of investment funds in terms of changing environment. Investment funds are financial institutions which have a particularly important role in capital markets in many countries and they have become major players affecting numerous events both inside and outside financial markets.The analysis of the participation of investment funds shows that their presence and circulation by regions is different. Namely, they are present in the U.S. and in Europe to a great extent, followed by Africa and Asia.In recent years, we have seen a trend of increased investment in investment funds in transition economies, as opposed to classical saving (9.4 billion U.S. $ in Poland, 4.2 billion U.S. $ in the Czech Republic, 4.1 billion U.S. $ in Hungary and 1.4 billion U.S. $ in Slovakia). Investment funds in the financial system of the Republic of Macedonia were established in 2000 with the Investment Funds Act. In fact, due to the movement of stock exchange, which has had downward trend since 2007, the postponement of Macedonia's entry into NATO, and the global economic crisis, the functioning of investment funds has shown changeable trends of declining growth in the number of shares issued, net assets value of funds, and the price of shares.This paper will present statistical analyses of the functioning of three investment funds in Macedonia in terms of changing environment as a result of the movements in the overall economy, and will offer some directions and measures for their improvement.