…It looks like Investors are indeed coming back to Africa! The major markets of the continent rose by around 10% during January. Some markets benefitted from the extra kicker of local currency appreciation (more detail in our monthly reports). Our markets had a fresh start and are clearly on a different tack than the major markets of this world. We have been arguing in favor of a catch-up of the overlooked ‘frontier markets’ with the main EM performers, and this may just be the beginning of that. Our African Lions fund rose by a handsome 6.19% over the month.
Despite heavy MENA markets, the Arab Falcons fund managed to produce a +4.75% debut of the year. Dubai continued to bottom out moving almost 12% lower, Abu Dhabi came off by just over 4%, similar to Qatar. Our strategy of diversification has, again, worked very well.
As I write this, Qatar has made its way up again and Oman seems to be finding a strong support. It would seem that Dubai may have found a substantial offshore oil field within its emirate’s territory. If this is true, it would obviously much improve sentiment in the beleaguered city state. Regardless, at the current market valuations, we are getting ready for a strong rally in the GCC markets.
The Silk Road Income Fund was awarded the 2009 ‘golden bull’ prize for innovation at the ‘Finanzen Nacht’ ceremony in Munich. Hailed by the German press as the “Oscar of the financial world”. The award is sponsored by Euro, Germany’s leading finance publication. The gala evening was attended by over 500 delegates. The event is considered to be Germany’s foremost award ceremony.
The pioneering Silk Road Income Fund was launched in October 2009. It gives investors exposure to a range of frontier fixed income markets, previously inaccessible to mainstream European investors in the shape of a UCITS compliant fund. The ground-breaking Luxembourg SICAV was launched to compliment Silk Invest’s equity offerings, namely the African Lions and Arab Falcons funds. As its name implies, the geographic remit of the fund is Africa, the Middle East and the Central Asia, leveraging of Silk Invest’s position as a market leader in these geographies. It is a true honor for us to receive this award.
Our latest monthly updates in which we cover the markets and their economies in detail can be found on our website.
We look forward to keeping you updated.
With kind regards,
The Silk Invest team
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