The Kenanga Sustainability Series Frontier Fund to further bridge gap between retail investors and global tech companies of the future.
KUALA LUMPUR – 28 October 2021 – Kenanga Investors Berhad (“Kenanga Investors”) has announced the launch of the Kenanga Sustainability Series: Frontier Fund (“the Fund”).
The Fund aims to invest primarily in equity securities of global cutting-edge, innovative companies with long-term sustainable growth potential, are on the cusps of initial public offerings, and have or will develop products and services that are linked to technologically-driven innovations.
Kenanga Investors foresees significant investment possibilities in these growth or late stage ventures, where their underlying themes are unified in focusing on the Next Generation, or forward-looking innovations currently shaping the industries of the future, such as the space economy, the metaverse, healthcare, fintech and cybersecurity. The fund will allow investors to capture the sustainable value generation of these companies, which were previously exclusively available to institutional investors.
Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kenanga Investors explains that the firm intends to reshape the existing private equity space in Malaysia by focusing on addressing the lack of available gateways for investors to access investment opportunities in prominent, hard-to-reach early start-ups. “Since 2016, emerging digital companies have won over the “old economy” by being among the top five most valuable corporations. Given the constant development of new technologies, it is unsurprising that new technology companies are sprouting. We began this process of bridging the gap between prominent players of the new ‘Big Tech’ and our investors back in 2019.
“The resulting outcome has been fulfilling for our investors in many ways; from portfolio diversification to the exploration of a new investment universe beyond the traditional investing realm, and so, demand for similar offerings has risen. We are glad to introduce the Fund to the market where investors who were not able to participate previously will have an opportunity to do so this time”, he said.
The Fund’s focus on frontier technological breakthroughs signifies Kenanga Investors’ journey to a sustainable investing roadmap, “Frontier tech represents a multitude of opportunities in boosting the development curve of the future, from utilisation of technologies to reduce carbon emissions, new medical discoveries to propel patient empowerment to the democratisation of financial services, the advent of frontier tech will allow for greater societal benefits and driving sustainable returns.” De Alwis explained.
The Fund feeds into the Ericsenz Frontier Fund and is suitable for sophisticated investors who have medium to long-term investment horizons. The initial offer period is from October 27 through December 3, 2021. It is available in both MYR and USD classes so investors can choose to invest in their preferred currency.
The Target Fund Manager, Ericsenz Capital Pte. Ltd, is a venture capital and private equity firm licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore with a collective experience of close to 100 years dealing with high growth middle-market companies primarily within the technology, healthcare, consumer and energy sector. Ericsenz is known for its strong network of professionals and associates providing valuable insights into global tech brands.
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We provide investment solutions ranging from collective investment schemes, portfolio management services, and alternative investments for retail, corporate, institutional, and high net worth clients via a multi-distribution network.
Most recently, the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2021/2022, named Kenanga Balanced Fund as “Balanced – Malaysia” for the 3rd year, Kenanga ASnitaBOND Fund as the “Core Fixed Income – Malaysia (Islamic)” for the second time, while Kenanga OnePRS Conservative Fund was awarded the “Private Retirement Scheme – Conservative” title (3rd year).
At the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards 2021 (Malaysia), KIB won overall best Malaysia Islamic Funds Group Awards (Equity) and Malaysia Provident Funds Group Awards (Mixed Assets). The Kenanga SyariahEXTRA Fund was awarded “Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia” award for 3-years and 5-years in both categories of Malaysia Islamic Funds and Malaysia Provident Funds while the Kenanga Growth Opportunities Fund won “Equity Malaysia Small & Mid-Caps” for 3-years under the Malaysia Provident Funds category. Kenanga SyariahEXTRA Fund also won “Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia” for 3-years and 5-years at the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards 2021 (Global Islamic). The Hong Kong-based Asia Asset Management’s 2021 Best of the Best Awards awarded KIB under the following categories, Malaysia – Best Equity Manager, Malaysia CIO of the Year, Malaysia – Best Islamic Fund (Equity), and Malaysia Best House for Alternatives.
For the fifth consecutive year, KIB was affirmed an investment manager rating of IMR-2 by Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad, since first rated in 2017. The IMR rating on KIB reflects the fund management company’s well-established investment processes and sound risk management practices. During the first half of 2021, KIB’s 20 largest unit trust funds outperformed its benchmarks for the one-year, three-year and five-year periods.
