Fund Profiles

When I meet Peregrine Capital's David Fraser at his offices in Sandown, Johannesburg, he has just returned from three days in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One colleague is in China, the other is recently back from Australia.

"Right now there is 24-hour visibility," said Insparo's Mohammed Hanif from his London office in mid-June. "It is the first time since late 2008 that we have seen stress signals at the foundation of the markets. I don't think we have experienced as eventful a moment since the Lehman's demise."

African Alliance has just reached the three-year mark with its African Pioneer Fund, which invests purely in locally listed securities across Africa, excluding South Africa, in multiple asset classes.

Hanno van Aarde at EPI Trading has built a good track record with his Smooth Plus Fund, an innovative strategy investing in traded endowment policies, and is now opening the fund to external investors.

Old Mutual Investment Group (SA) (OMIGSA)'s Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund is well into its fourth year, offering a unique combination of private equity and hedge fund strategies in a portfolio that now offers enhanced monthly liquidity terms.

"Back in 2008 when we started our Africa fund, people were looking at the potential of Africa. Now it is very much a reality," says Tutu Agyare, head of Nubuke Investments.

Johannesburg-based Truffle Asset Management's White Truffle Fund has gained 13.98% in the three months since being rolled out to institutional investors on October 1.

Adrian de Fay is settling into his new offices at Investec Asset Management in Cape Town, having made the move from his own company back to corporate life in late 2009.

Johannesburg-based Laurium Capital has teamed up with Ambata Capital Partners to advise on a new Zimbabwean fund, which went live in December 2009.

Craig Sorour and Sven Thordsen have made a promising start with their Bell Rock market-neutral fund, which launched in January 2009. The fund has had 10 positive months to the end of October, returning a net 20% return since inception.