Insparo Asset Management has announced plans to ramp up the marketing of its Africa and Middle East fund to investors.
Insparo Asset Management has announced plans to ramp up the marketing of its Africa and Middle East fund to investors.
While the fund has attracted a number of high profile investors, Insparo’s stated objective has been to use the fund’s first year to establish its investment strategy in Africa and the Middle East – and to put the USD125m seed capital to work effectively. The firm will now look to step up its global marketing and distribution efforts.
The fund has returned 10.5 per cent in 2009 and -3.8 per cent in the last 12 months. This is compared to broad falls in similar indices – the AfricaHedge Pan African Equities Index fell by 3.2 per cent in 2009 and 39.9 per cent over the last 12 months, while the AfricaHedge Middle East/North Africa Index has fallen by 6.3 per cent since January and by 40 per cent over the last year.
The fund – launched to investors in June last year – will continue to target traditional hedge fund and institutional investors such as funds of hedge funds, private banks, family offices, high net worth individuals and pension funds. While Insparo’s main focus is on attracting investment from across Europe, the firm will also seek to increase its activity in the US, South Africa and the Middle East.
Insparo has recently strengthened its team with the appointment of Jon Laidlow in an enlarged role encompassing chief operating officer and chief financial officer responsibilities. The firm plans to make further appointments to expand its investment and operations teams in the near future.
Mohammed Hanif, chief investment officer at Insparo, says: ‘2008 was a uniquely turbulent period for fund managers across the globe, and in this context, our performance was encouraging. It was a difficult time to be launching a fund to the market, but we always had faith in our strategy, and in our experience and knowledge of the region, and our performance has been reward for that faith.’
‘Our aim for the year was to focus on the strategy and performance of the fund, rather than on business development. The fact that we were able to attract investment at a time when inflows were at their scarcest, and from such experienced figures within the investment industry, showed that others shared our belief in the potential of Africa.’
‘As proud as we are of our achievements this year, we have always taken a long term approach to this business, and this is just the beginning. We have strengthened the team with Jon’s appointment, and we are looking to bring in more people of a similar calibre. We are excited about attracting new investors to the fund, building on our strong performance and kicking on into our second year and beyond.’
The Africa & Middle East Fund makes investments across the region in various sectors including infrastructure, agriculture, metals and mining and sectors that benefit from the emergence of a middle class. It looks to invest in listed and unlisted equities, hard currency denominated loans and bonds, and local currency denominated loans and bonds.
