EDC Fund Management launches Mutual Funds

EDC Fund Management, the Asset Management arm of Ecobank in Nigeria has announced the launch of two mutual funds – The EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund, and the EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund.

The mutual funds gives customers of the company and other interested Nigerians the opportunity to diversify their investment portfolio with as little as N5,000 for the Money Market Fund and N50,000 for the Fixed Income Fund.

Announcing the launch of the two funds in Lagos, EDC Fund Management Managing Director Ibukun Oyedeji said the Money market fund provides the benefits of pooled investment, allowing investors to invest in a diverse and high quality portfolio.

“Like other mutual funds, each investor in a money market fund is considered a shareholder of the investment pool. She stated that the Money market funds are managed within rigid and transparent guidelines to seek preservation of capital, liquidity and competitive yields. The Money Market fund has two classes – Class A caters for the retail investor while Class B is targeted toward corporate investors as a liquidity management solution. The EDC Nigeria (Corporate) Money Market Fund will assist large Corporates to efficiently manage their day-to-day liquidity while they focus on more strategic initiatives for their business. The unit price for the Class B is N1 million”.

On the EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund, the Managing Director said this is a collective investment vehicle which invests primarily in government and corporate bonds. The fund coming at an offer price of N1000.00 per unit aims to provide investors with liquidity, capital preservation, liability management and a diversification from equity risk for those investors who are currently exposed to the equity market. The minimum amount that can be invested is N50,000.00 and scalable in multiples of N10,000 . Incremental investments in these mutual funds can be done as frequently as the investor chooses. Further, the Managing Director stated that the assets in the EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund are Naira denominated. Thus, all inflows must be converted into Naira by the foreign investor before the funds can be invested.

Although both funds are open-ended funds, the Initial Public Offering period closes on November 30, 2016. Once, the approval of the IPO is completed the funds have no closing date. Units in the Fund can be bought or sold any business day providing investors easy access to their money. The investor stands to benefit from distributions that will be made to unit holders on a quarterly basis for the Money Market Fund and semi –annual basis for the Fixed income fund. Unit holders have the option of receiving payment in cash (electronic transfer to their account) or purchasing additional units of the funds at the offer price.

The Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) is the Issuing House, while EDC Fund Management Limited is the Fund Manager.