HC Securities & Investment to deploy remainder of fund this year

19 February 2012

Open-ended fund raises close to $10m

Egypt-based investment bank HC Securities & Investment is looking to deploy the remainder of its Misr al-Mostakbal Fund, which it launched last year after 25 January revolution.

The open-ended fund, which was set up to invest in equities listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and help stimulate the bourse has raised close to £E60m ($9.94m).

“We’re deploying the money slowly, but surely. The fundraising exercise is ongoing, but we haven’t raised much more (since inception) and we’ve deployed the majority of that,” says Omar Radwan, head of asset management HC Securities & Investment.

Most of the investors are locally based, although there has been interest from the wider region according to Radwan.

The company has about 20 companies on its portfolio, with most of it concentrated on the EGX30 stocks, the main index. The majority of the fund has been deployed to firms in the financial services, real estate, telecoms and fertiliser sectors.

“We have the option of going into some stocks off the index, there are no restrictions, but the focus is mainly on EGX30 stocks,” says Radwan.

HC Securities’ cautious approach has enabled the company to get a return of about 20 per cent for its investors and Radwan is confident the exchange will maintain an upwards trajectory.

“Daily turnover averaged £E150m in December, we’ve seen this quadruple during January and February. This is a very bullish sign from investors,” says Radwan.

The EGX has been one of the best performing stock exchanges so far this year. It is quickly regaining from the 50 per cent fall of last year. And the political transition is nearing the end, which has contributed to positive international investor sentiment according to Radwan.

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