Silk Invest has just reached a new major milestone: The launch of Emerging Africa Bond Fund in collaboration with Bramer Asset Management in Mauritius. This is an exiting new chapter in its story because the firm has increasingly been working with Africa-based institutional investors as they continue to expand their investment activities across the African continent.
As a result of this effort comes a strategic partnership with Bramer Asset Management which provides Silk Invest with a deeper reach into the Mauritius and East African investor markets while Bramer taps into Silk Invest’s specialist capabilities of managing local currency fixed income.
Both firms believe that 2014 will be the year of Africa’s bond markets and expect to see significant flows into this maturing asset class. “Investors are now also considering African fixed income investments to diversify their equity portfolios. The Emerging Africa Bond Fund has also been domiciled in Mauritius, which is globally known for its financial hub. This product has been designed to meet the requirements of both retail and institutional clients and we remain confident of the African potential which this new initiative brings”, says Jaya Allock, President & CEO of Bramer Asset Management.
The Fund will be domiciled in Mauritius and will be targeting mainly African and international institutional investors. “African institutional investors have seen a remarkable growth in assets but, until now, due to lack of compelling bond offerings, have invested most of their assets within their regions”, comments Malick Badjie, Head of Investment Solutions, Silk Invest. “Africa markets have seen tremendous interest recently from investors worldwide because of their increased share of the global economy and capital markets, along with their growth potential”, adds Muhammad Rawat, CIO of Bramer Asset Management. “African capital markets have significantly matured over the last few years with high positive real yields, solvent balance sheets and improving governance and institutional frameworks all providing an attractive investor entry point”, says Chandi Jethu, Managing Partner Silk Invest.
The fund will employ an active, benchmark-agnostic investment style, based on fundamental, country-by-country macroeconomic research that incorporates quantitative analysis, macro-analytic models, local market insight and rigorous risk management to achieve the target.
Bramer Asset Management Ltd is a leading financial Services provider in East Africa. The firm is headquartered in Mauritius and has presence in Kenya, Mozambique, Madagascar, Botswana and Malta. It is part of the British American Investment group, one of the fastest growing conglomerates in the Indian Ocean region. Bramer is also a major shareholder of Equity Bank, one of Africa’s most innovative financial institutions.