Epoch Partners Limited (Headquartered in the Cayman Islands) has launched what it says is the world’s first retail public offering of a cryptocurrency and digital assets-related fund.
The Securities Registration Statement for the fund was filed on EDINET – the disclosure system of the Japanese Financial Services Agency – on 28 September 2018, with subscriptions being opened on 15 October. According to the Securities Registration Statement, subscriptions are to be capped at JPY100 billion, or about USD900 million.
Epoch Digital Assets will make use of hedge fund management know-how to invest into funds and other investment vehicles with exposure to a variety of cryptocurrency, initial coin offering (ICO), and other digital assets, seeking aggressive returns while reducing volatility.
The ability to get a diversified exposure to the cryptocurrency and digital asset space with a relatively small investment should be one element of appeal to retail investors. While the digital asset space has significant upside growth potential, it still represents a very volatile market with large price swings, so investors will be investing at their own risk.
Epoch Partners partner James Skinner says, “Japan has been a leader in the cryptocurrency and digital asset space. They were the first market to create a proper regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, and as such can be seen as the world pioneer in this area. We were very keen to undertake the world’s first public offering of a cryptocurrency fund in Japan and look forward to great things ahead. The asset class is still young, but the movement to more institutional players like Goldman Sachs and Nomura entering the space shows the great potential of this area. In the future, digital assets are likely to become an integrated part of investment portfolios, similar to equities and fixed income products today, albeit on a smaller scale.”
The fund will be marketed by Teneo Partners (Headquartered in Tokyo), which will sell the fund in conjunction with other securities firms in Japan.
Stanley Howard, CEO of Teneo Partners, says: “As a fully licensed Japanese securities company that specialises in offering offshore alternative funds to Japanese investors, we are delighted to be working with Epoch Partners. The ability to offer a truly unique diversified digital asset fund to our distribution and investor networks allows us to more fully address the increasingly diverse investment needs of our clientele and to differentiate ourselves from our competitors within the Japanese securities industry.”
