The news follows it bringing in former Baring head of global emerging market equities Roberto Lampl as head of Latin America earlier this month.
Expanded range
The firm currently runs the Alquity Africa Fund, which has been managed by David McIlroy since 2010. It now plans to add Sell’s two funds to a LatAm fund run by Lampl. All three will launch in March, subject to regulatory approval.
Alquity specialises in investing in frontier markets around three core principles: delivering attractive returns, sustainable investment and transforming lives though micro-finance projects. Paul Robinson, CEO of Alquity, said that while any investment business is about delivering returns to investors, no company exists in a vacuum.
“The way we approach investing is we look at the environmental, social and governance (ESG) side, looking deeper than just the numbers. It’s about looking at the character and value of the business we’re investing in.”
The firm uses research from MSCI to help it narrow down its investment universe then drills down into the ESG credentials of any potential investment.
Give and give back
Robinson is particularly keen on giving something back to the regions in which Alquity is investing. “We donate a minimum of 25% of our net management fees [from the Africa fund] to micro-finance projects in Africa. If you help them, you’re boosting the ecosystem you’re investing in. We’re putting something back in at the bottom of the economy. Investors get a return and feel they’re doing something good.”
This approach will be replicated across the new funds, and once these have had time to bed in Robinson foresees future additional launches.
“We think we can build it out to other markets. We’ve had a lot of investment from places like Hong Kong, and they want to help people in their own back yard. We’re looking at what the investment opportunities are tomorrow, not yesterday.”
The Latin American fund will be able to have a regional focus on smaller markets than Brazil due to its small size, Robinson added: “We’ll be buying small and mid-cap companies, but they’re still multi-billion dollar market-cap stocks. Some other funds offer that access but you don’t usually see a Ucits, daily-dealing fund available on platforms, as ours will be.”
