Financial assets

The financial assets ( English net financial assets ) designates in business accounting the sum of the cash holdings (ZMB) plus the receivables minus the liabilities of an economic entity. It thus represents a balance . The net worth of an economic entity is made up of its net financial assets and its tangible assets (which are also called "real assets" or "non-financial assets").

In economic accounting, the defined financial assets are often referred to as net financial assets or net position. A positive net financial asset position is also called a net creditor position, a negative NGV position is also called a net debtor position. The net financial assets (the net position) of a country (an open economy) are also known as net international assets . A country with positive net foreign assets is also called a creditor country (e.g. Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany), a country with negative net foreign assets is called a debtor country (e.g. Greece, USA, Iceland; the euro zone as a whole is also a net debtor) , see list of countries according to net international assets .

Transactions that result in an increase (or decrease) in financial assets are referred to as performance transactions ; the associated increases in net financial assets are called income , and decreases in net financial assets are called expenditure . Transactions that only change the structure of net financial assets but do not change its scope (such as payments, taking out and granting loans, acquiring securities, etc.) are referred to as pure financial transactions.

The balance of income and expenditure per period corresponds to the change in net financial wealth of an economic entity or a sector of a closed economy as a whole. Since income and expenditure result from service transactions, the balance of income and expenditure in an open economy is also known as the current account balance , which is posted with the opposite sign in the financial account. A surplus of income over expenditure is also called a current account surplus or net capital export and increases the net financial wealth position of a country. H. a net creditor position is expanded or a net debtor position is reduced. Excess expenditure over income is called a current account deficit or net capital import and reduces a country's net financial wealth position, i.e. H. a net creditor position is reduced or a net debtor position is increased. These balance of payments terms, which are common for nations, can also be applied to sectors within an economy and to individual economic entities.

The net financial wealth of a closed economy is always zero plus the cash and cash equivalents, since receivables (including all credit cash) and liabilities offset at zero. However, the stocks of cash and cash equivalents are negligibly small today (dividing coins ). The net worth (equity) of a closed economy thus always corresponds exactly to its real assets.

National accounts

In the ESA 1995 show financial balance sheets assets , liabilities and when the net financial assets. The financial balance sheets are drawn up by the Deutsche Bundesbank and are to be delivered to Eurostat - the statistical office of the European Communities - within the framework of the binding provisions of the delivery program .

Since every claim is matched by a corresponding liability, in a closed economy the net financial assets - financial assets minus liabilities - must be zero. For example, the Deutsche Bundesbank has financial assets for the "total sectors" of EUR 21,800.5 billion in 2007. This is offset by liabilities of these sectors of 21,737.8 billion euros. This leaves net financial assets of 62.7 billion euros. These are the monetary gold and the special drawing rights of the Deutsche Bundesbank, which, as real assets, are not subject to any liability and therefore ultimately make up the total financial assets of all sectors. A government debt brake means, if absolute upper limits are set for the government's net debtor position, that the net financial assets of the other sectors are also limited.

The financial assets of a sector therefore also depend on how the sectors are delimited from one another and to what extent claims and liabilities are offset against one another within a sector.

Development in Germany

According to the Deutsche Bundesbank , the financial assets of the “private households and private non-profit organizations” sector amounted to 4,563.6 billion euros at the end of 2007; At the end of 2009 it was 4,672 billion euros. These are claims of this sector against the other sectors “ non-financial corporations ”, “ general government”, “domestic financial sectors” and “rest of the world”. The net financial wealth in Germany is very unevenly distributed .

The financial assets of private households and private non-profit-making organizations are offset by liabilities to other sectors of 1,546.8 billion euros; this results in net financial assets of 3,016.8 billion euros. Shares are booked as a liability of the issuing body, i.e. the stock corporation, while they are a claim from the owner of the share.

The “non-financial corporations” (corporate) sector had financial assets of 2,845.0 billion euros, liabilities of 4,447.4 billion euros and, on balance, net financial assets of −1,602.4 billion euros. The “state” sector has financial assets of 508.2 billion euros, liabilities of 1,588.5 billion euros and thus net financial assets of −1,080.3 billion euros. The “domestic financial sectors” (e.g. banks , insurance companies , investment funds ) have financial assets of 9,387.4 billion euros and liabilities of 9,267.7 billion euros, leaving net financial assets of 119.8 billion euros. The “rest of the world” (abroad) has financial assets vis-à-vis the domestic sectors of Germany of 4,496.2 billion euros, liabilities of 4,887.5 billion euros and thus net financial assets of −391.2 billion euros, the German economy thus has net foreign assets of 391.2 billion euros. The net financial assets of all sectors are zero, with the exception of monetary gold and the Bundesbank's special drawing rights , which are not matched by liabilities, of 62.7 billion euros.

In 2011, the claims of the German economy from abroad amounted to around 5,800 billion euros. This was offset by liabilities to other countries of around 5,400 billion euros. The balance of the two figures, the net financial assets of the German economy, is around 400 billion euros. The households and nonprofit institutions possessed assets of about 4.700 billion euros, the loans and other liabilities of about 1.500 billion euros faced. The net financial wealth of private households and private non-profit organizations was thus around 3,200 billion euros.