In the third quarter of 2014, the financial assets of households rose by €28 billion on the quarter, climbing to €5,011 billion. While the transaction-related acquisition of financial assets amounted to just under €34.5 billion, leaving it roughly unchanged compared to the previous quarter, valuation losses, notably on shares, curtailed growth in assets by around €6.5 billion. With regard to types of investment, the trend towards liquid and lower-risk assets, which has been evident for some time now, continued into the third quarter.

Professor Dr. Axel A. Weber, Präsident der Deutschen Bundesbank, Vortrag an der Universität Siegen

An improved net result of financial operations, write-downs and risk provisioning caused a slight increase in the Bundesbank's profit in 2015. At the same time, the Bundesbank's net interest income was lower than at any time since monetary union was launched.

Prof. Dr. Axel A. Weber, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Challenges for monetary policy in the financial crisis