NAMAL launches IPO Fund

National Asset Management Ltd. (NAMAL), the pioneer Unit Trust Management Company in Sri Lanka yesterday announced the launch of the NAMAL IPO Fund.

The Fund has been launched to capture potential upside on mispriced IPOs (initial public offerings) as well as to benefit from the preferential allocation of 10% of the offered shares to the unit trust investor category. The fund will invest at the IPO offering stage and in post-IPO securities for a period of one year. The Fund is targeted at retail investors with a minimum investment of Rs. 10,000 and will enable retail investors to obtain a meaningful allocation without the hassle of applying for each individual IPO and obtaining bank guarantees.  

NAMAL Executive Director Avancka Herat said: “Retail investors have faced a significant challenge in evaluating IPOs in recent times. With many IPOs in the pipeline in the next few years, Investors in the Fund will benefit from the professional selection of IPO securities and portfolio management by NAMAL’s experienced fund management team.”

Unique features of the NAMAL IPO Fund are that it would invest in the post-IPO stage and in other equities in the market if the managers think that IPOs are not properly valued thus ensuring equity exposure for investors. The NAMAL IPO Fund will not charge an exit fee to investors even if they redeem within a short period of the initial investment. The NAMAL IPO Fund is licensed by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka as an open-ended Unit Trust.

Head of Sales and Structuring Charana Jayasuriya said: “NAMAL IPO Fund joins the portfolio of open ended unit trusts managed by NAMAL with different markets strategies and risk return objectives. NAMAL will continue to launch new opened ended funds to increase the range of individual investment options.”

 Established in 1991, as the first Unit Trust Management Company in Sri Lanka, NAMAL has a 20 year track record of successfully investing in the Sri Lankan equity and debt markets. The flagship National Equity Fund has generated 16.9% annualised return for the last 19 years. NAMAL operates eight unit trusts including NAMAL Acuity Value Fund, the only listed unit trust, and the NAMAL Amana Fund, the only Shari’ah compliant unit trust.

In February 2011, Union Bank of Colombo PLC purchased 51% of NAMAL with Ennid Capital (Pvt) Ltd., an investment arm of Singapore based BP De Silva Holdings purchasing 19%. With founding shareholder DFCC Bank retaining a 30% shareholding, NAMAL is backed by the financial strength and stability of two of the leading banks in Sri Lanka.

CEO S. Jeyavarman stated that NAMAL Unit Trusts are now available from all Union Bank Branches as part of the strategy to offer new investment products to suburban and rural investors.