Business / Economy
Retail investment into Africa tops R25m, says Imara S.P. Reid
17 Sep 2013 at 08:40hrs | Views
Individual South Africans have committed more than R25 million to retail investment in sub-Saharan Africa, says Illovo-based Imara S.P. Reid Stockbrokers, believed to be the first firm to create an investment channel into Africa for retail saver-investors.
Inflows have been steady since the launch of the Africa-wide investment service in late June and have consistently exceeded expectation, said Simon Reid, head of Imara Africa Securities, a Group associate of Imara S.P. Reid.
He noted: "Our systems and African network routinely handle much larger transactions for major institutional clients. These commitments are clearly much smaller as the retail channel is intended for use by private individuals.
"In this context, the volumes are still significant. They tell us that many ordinary South Africans are positive about long-term growth prospects in a wide range of African markets and see sub-Saharan equities as an important means of bringing additional balance to their portfolios.
"We see no sign of interest tailing off. This suggests that African diversification will become an established theme among retail investors eager to tap into the growth potential of Africa ex-South Africa."
The new service from Imara S.P. Reid opens up equity and bond investment opportunities across 17 African stock exchanges with which the pan-African Imara Group has long-established relationships.
The Imara investment channel into Africa has been used for several years by major institutions, fund managers and sophisticated international investors.
"Successful stress testing in the institutional market over several years is one reason for steady demand by retail investors," says Simon Reid.
"They know commitments to African Frontier Markets are a key element in institutional investment strategies. This alerts them to long-term potential while giving a sense of comfort that these equity markets can deliver good value over time.
"Africa has been positively re-rated by many major investors in the last couple of years. It looks like re-rating is underway at individual level as well."
Inflows have been steady since the launch of the Africa-wide investment service in late June and have consistently exceeded expectation, said Simon Reid, head of Imara Africa Securities, a Group associate of Imara S.P. Reid.
He noted: "Our systems and African network routinely handle much larger transactions for major institutional clients. These commitments are clearly much smaller as the retail channel is intended for use by private individuals.
"In this context, the volumes are still significant. They tell us that many ordinary South Africans are positive about long-term growth prospects in a wide range of African markets and see sub-Saharan equities as an important means of bringing additional balance to their portfolios.
"We see no sign of interest tailing off. This suggests that African diversification will become an established theme among retail investors eager to tap into the growth potential of Africa ex-South Africa."
The new service from Imara S.P. Reid opens up equity and bond investment opportunities across 17 African stock exchanges with which the pan-African Imara Group has long-established relationships.
The Imara investment channel into Africa has been used for several years by major institutions, fund managers and sophisticated international investors.
"Successful stress testing in the institutional market over several years is one reason for steady demand by retail investors," says Simon Reid.
"They know commitments to African Frontier Markets are a key element in institutional investment strategies. This alerts them to long-term potential while giving a sense of comfort that these equity markets can deliver good value over time.
"Africa has been positively re-rated by many major investors in the last couple of years. It looks like re-rating is underway at individual level as well."
Source - cleardistinction
