The Cayman-domiciled Apache Global Frontiers Fund, which is due to launch on 22 March, will invest in the markets of Central & South America, the Balkans, the Baltics, Central & Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, parts of the Gulf region, Indochina and Central Asia. Apache said the portfolio will have a primary focus on equities but will also include fixed income.
Apache managing director Paul Forsythe said, through its Cayman distributor status, it will be marketed to private clients, family offices and sophisticated investors in the Gulf region and “pockets” of Asia, as well as the UK and Europe.
Forsythe explained that those living in or close to emerging market economies are more likely than their counterparts living in the developed economies to invest in frontier markets as they better understand the potential value.
Managed on a fund of funds basis, Apache said manager selection will be made based on both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint, using “recognised data services to provide the statistics”. However, the firm added that greater emphasis will be placed on the qualitative factors in this “young investment area”.
The company added it will seek to find managers with a real awareness of the issues driving these embryonic markets and understanding the investment approach and process that drives them.
Key initial markets within the portfolio will include: Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Bosnia and Cuba and Iraq. In total there will be exposure to more than 40 markets.
“We are looking to find the BRICS of tomorrow and to provide savvy and forward thinking investors with the chance to get into markets that will deliver superior returns over the next five to ten years,” added Forsythe.
“Sophisticated investors are aware of these opportunities but become concerned about the risks. We are offering an access route – a diversified approach together with ways into markets and expert managers that investors cannot put in place on their own. The portfolio will feature key managers with which Apache Partners has developed strong relationships to provide research input and advice on a regional basis.”
