HSBC Global Asset Management this week launched the latest in its range of Global Investment Funds – HSBC GIF Frontier Markets Fund.
HSBC Global Asset Management this week launched the latest in its range of Global Investment Funds – HSBC GIF Frontier Markets Fund. The bank’s existing HSBC New Frontiers Fund, originally launched in February 2008 as a Lux-based SIF (frontier markets were not UCITS-compliant at the time), has been merged with the new UCITS fund. A long-only product, it provides institutional and retail clients with exposure to what HSBC considers the next generation of emerging markets – ranging from Argentina and Bahrain through to Tunisia and Vietnam. Previously, frontier markets had only been available to institutional clients but retail investors now have the opportunity to tap into these equity markets. The minimum retail share class is USD5,000 in the fund, which offers daily dealing. Andrea Nannini (pictured) is portfolio manager, having been running the HSBC New Frontiers Fund since inception. As with the former fund, the new UCITS is benchmarked against the MSCI Frontier Markets Capped Index. Frontier markets, as a subset of emerging market nations, are generally considered to be those at an earlier stage of economic, political and financial development. “The availability of HSBC Frontier Markets expertise in the GIF format with a retail share class caters for the demand from those investors seeking exposure to the next generation of global emerging markets, offering investors a further level of portfolio diversification,” commented Andy Clark, Head of Wholesale, EMEA, HSBC Global Asset Management.
