A hedge fund focusing on Russia and the former Soviet Union, Da Vinci CIS Private Sector Growth Fund, has become the first listing on the Specialist Fund Market, the London Stock Exchange’s new market
A hedge fund focusing on Russia and the former Soviet Union, Da Vinci CIS Private Sector Growth Fund, has become the first listing on the Specialist Fund Market, the London Stock Exchange’s new market for alternative investment vehicles.
The fund has raised approximately USD110m to invest in unlisted equity and equity-related securities of companies located in Russia and other member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
‘Da Vinci’s admission to the Specialist Fund Market, together with the formal listing of BH Global, the second main market fund from Brevan Howard, cement London’s position as the public market of choice for hedge funds and other alternative investment vehicles,’ says Martin Graham, director of equity markets at London Stock Exchange Group.
BH Global, a newly-established feeder fund investing in the Brevan Howard Global Opportunities Master Fund, began unconditional dealing on May 29 having raised USD1bn through a listing on the London Stock Exchange’s main market.
‘Integral to London’s attractiveness is the choice of markets that we are able to offer funds, aligned to their profile and structure, the types of investors they wish to target and the risk premium sought by investors,’ Graham adds.
‘The creation of the Specialist Fund Market adds to that choice, and we expect to see more funds follow Da Vinci’s lead over the coming months by using the Specialist Fund Market to access London’s unique community of expert investors.’
Da Vinci Capital Management founder and managing partner Oleg Jelezko says: ‘It is a great pleasure to see the Da Vinci CIS Private Sector Growth Fund commence trading, a major milestone for our flagship product.
‘We have been careful to build an organisation that possesses unique complementary skill sets in both public and private equity, and we look forward to generating continued value for existing and future shareholders as the fund starts its life on a public market.’
Established in 2007, Da Vinci Capital Management is a group of companies focusing on alternative investments, private equity and structured products in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
The London Stock Exchange says the Specialist Fund Market, launched on November 1 last year, is the first public capital market specifically designed to offer access to permanent capital for specialist investment vehicles targeting institutional, professional and highly knowledgeable investors.
Market issuers are subject to the European Union’s Prospectus Directive, Transparency Directive, Market Abuse Directive and other EU requirements, but its admission standards offer sufficient flexibility to accommodate single-strategy hedge funds, private equity funds and other alternative strategies and structures. The market is open to both UK and international issuers.
