The Securities and Exchange Commission has said that total asset under the management of Mutual Funds in Nigeria has topped N300 billion for the first time ever.
This is against the backdrop of increased interest and investments in Mutual Funds in Nigeria, which has been attributed to various factors, including the current state of the economy, stock market and interest rate fluctuations as well as much improved mutual funds offerings.
This is further backed by a recent report by Quantitative Financial Analytics, which estimated that Nigerian mutual funds attracted the sum of N42 billion inflows in the first quarter of 2017 as against the N49 billion inflows recorded in the entire 2016.
Nigeria’s mutual funds’ assets also grew to N318 billion as at the beginning of H2, 2017, up by 42 per cent on a year-to-date basis from the 2016-year end value of N223.6 billion.
Speaking on this trend at the launch of one of such funds, The Coronation Mutual Funds, Mr. Emeka Okolo, a Senior Fund Manager and Head, Coronation Asset Management, said that active portfolio management by experienced professionals offered investors better prospects on their investments, especially in periods of market volatility and economic downturns as it’s being experienced in Nigeria, making mutual funds an optimal choice.
He explained that “no one can doubt the capacity and expertise of Coronation Asset Management to deliver competitive returns to investors in the Coronation Mutual Funds. The level of professionalism and quality of investments will be difficult to match by other mutual fund managers in Nigeria and the West African sub-region, coupled with the proposed investment mix and the fund structures distinguish these Mutual Funds.”
He noted that the recently launched Naira denominated open-ended mutual funds by Coronation Assets Management Limited, which witnessed a high subscription rate by individual, retail and institutional investors had continued to elicit excitement.
The Mutual Funds – N1.5 billion Money Market Fund, N400 million fixed income fund and the N200 million balanced fund, were all offered at par of One Naira each.
In the same vein, Chairman of the Bank, Tunde Folawiyo, said that the funds offered all strata of investors, individual and corporate, an opportunity to diversify their investment portfolios backed by the strength of the Coronation Brand and managed by a team of experienced professionals at Coronation Asset Management.
According to the Folawiyo, the Money Market Fund would exclusively invest in short-dated money market instruments, offering capital preservation and liquidity to investors.
The Fixed Income Fund will invest in FGN and investment grade corporate bonds while the Balanced Fund will invest in a diversified portfolio of carefully chosen equity securities with strong fundamentals.
