Four Emerging Market Funds Recently Listed On BISX

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

14 January 2004

Four new emerging market funds were listed on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) at the end of last year with a net asset value of $100 million.

The funds, which were officially launched by advisors Global Equities Management SA at a listing reception last Friday, consist of: Emerging Value Opportunities Fund Ltd; the Gazinvest Fund Ltd; the Ukraine Value Opportunities Fund Ltd; and the Post Communist Opportunities Fund Ltd.

Phillip Haas, of Haas Consulting, who will provide research and analysis for the funds, revealed that the recent weakness in the US dollar combined with the country’s spiralling public debt has a major bearing on the funds’ emerging market emphasis.

"We are trying to protect our investors from the harm that their savings could suffer from a loss of value of the US dollar and from decline of currencies in general," explained Haas.

Meanwhile, Mr Anthony Inder Rieden, who is also a Director of all of the funds, noted that the BISX was chosen “primarily to provide more market exposure for these funds.”

“Many potential investors are also looking for the increased transparency that a listing provides. The funds are all licensed in The Bahamas and the management office is based here, so it made sense to list here. BISX is also attractive to us for its Bloomberg feed and the fact that it is an affiliate member of IOSCO both of which give it strong credibility for a young exchange," observed Mr Inder Rieden.

Keith Davies, acting CEO of BISX, sated that he was “extremely pleased” with the primary listing of the four new mutual funds.

“The BISX Mutual Fund Listing Facility is proving to be an attractive vehicle for mutual fund listings, and we continue to receive inquiries from attorneys and mutual fund administrators both locally and internationally,” he divulged, adding: “We expect to hit the ground running in 2004 with even more new business for BISX and The Bahamas."

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