Neptune Investment Management today launched its Africa Fund with an initial charge of 5 per cent and an annual management charge of 1.85 per cent.

The fund will be managed by Shelley Kuhn who rejoined Neptune in April of this year, having been travelling in Africa for the past seven months.

The Fund is able to invest across a range of African countries from Morocco to Mauritius, but in more adverse conditions, Neptune is hopeful the size and liquidity of the South African market will offer investors less volatility than a fund focused on Sub-Saharan & North Africa.

As a result, it will have a minimum of 50 per cent invested in South African equities at all times.

Richard Green, deputy managing director of Neptune Investment Management said it was the right time to broaden the company’s range of emerging markets funds.

He explained, ‘We think it will prove attractive to those looking to diversify their portfolio overseas and invest in economies with remarkable growth potential.

‘The Fund will benefit from the company’s global sector research and macroeconomic analysis as well as the fund management skills of Shelley Kuhn.’

The Neptune Africa Fund has an investment objective of generating capital growth by investing predominantly in the securities of companies in Africa or companies transacting a significant proportion of their business on the African continent.

Countries where larger weightings are anticipated include South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya.