HSBC launches first CIVETS fund

HSBC Global Asset Management has launched the first CIVETS fund making it available to both retail and institutional investors globally.

CIVETS stands for the following group of countries - Columbia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa. Called the HSBC GIF CIVETS fund, it's aiming for long-term returns from capital growth and income by investing in a diversified portfolio of equities from the stock exchanges of the CIVETS’ countries.

The Luxembourg-based fund may also invest up to 25% in non-CIVETS’ nations which have similarly attractive demographics, says HSBC. So investors can also expect to see in the fund equities from the stock exchanges of Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Domiciled in Luxembourg, the HSBC GIF CIVETS fund is part of HSBC Global Asset Management's flagship Global Investment Funds (GIF) SICAV range which is registered across more than 30 countries worldwide. 

The fund's managers believe that the CIVETS nations  are among the next generation of emerging markets and echo many of the demographic qualities inherent in larger developing markets such as the ‘BRIC' nations. Collectively, the CIVETS group represents some 8% of the world’s population which is around 600m with an average age of 27 years.

On the fund's management team are four investment professionals each with an average investment experience of more than 11 years. Douglas Helfer, who is lead manager of the new fund,  has been manager of the HSBC GIF Russia Equity fund. In his new role he will be responsible for the overall country asset allocation decisions. His co-managers are Basak Yavuz and Andrew Brudenell, both Frontiers Markets portfolio managers at HSBC Global Asset Management; while Nick Timberlake, Global Head of Emerging Market Equities, will oversee the overall management of the fund.