Kenanga Investors have launched Malaysia’s first investment fund for “unicorn companies”
Kenanga Investors Bhd launched the Kenanga Global Unicorn 1 (KGU1) fund today, which will feed into the Ericsenz-K2 Global Unicorn Fund based in Singapore. This is the first of its kind for investors in Malaysia.
Chief executive officer and executive director of Kenanga Investors, Ismitz Matthe De Alwis, said the KGU1 offers exclusive access to their clients to invest into these otherwise hard-to-reach investment opportunities.
“Unicorn companies were much rarer two to three years ago, but now there are between 80 and 100 each year attaining that status that is often associated with signs of a near term IPO. Asia is leading the way with at least 30% of unicorns today coming from China when it used to be a term mainly associated with US-based companies,” he said.
Unicorns are defined privately held startup companies with a near term visibilityof an IPO within 6 to 24 months, or are valued at over US$1 billion.
He pointed out that this fairly recent development poses a lot of opportunities for investors to tap into, but with many unicorn companies choosing to stay private longer, they are not accessible to the everyday investor.
The Ericsenz-K2 Global Unicorn Fund is managed by Ericsenz Capital Pte. Ltd, a Singapore-based venture capital and private equity firm, licensed under the Securities and Futures Act and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
It invests in high growth middle-market companies primarily within the technology, healthcare, consumer and energy sector. The Target Fund Manager works with K2 Global as its strategic advisor; a venture capital firm with access to a wide selection of late-stage private technology companies located in upcoming tech hubs.
The Malaysian based investment firm is confident that this collaboration with the Singapore based fund will be valuable in order to leverage on Ericsenz Capital and K2 Global’s close network of commercial, strategic, investment, media and government partners in both Asia and the United States.
“We are on an ongoing journey to explore new opportunities in today’s investment landscape. Therefore, the KGU1 is another exciting addition to the suite of alternative products that we carry.” De Alwis said.
The chief executive officer also said he believes that at this point in time, Malaysians are more than ready for alternative forms of investments.
“KGU1 is the link between sophisticated investors and up-and-comers of the international startup community. It keeps our investors at the forefront of investment opportunities as they are given access to future big ideas and possibilities arising from these innovative companies at early stages of their growth,” De Alwis added.
The buy and sell discipline adopted by the Ericsenz-K2 Global Unicorn Fund is not speculative and is a measured assessment of the market and macro environment to determine alpha.
The KGU1 fund is suitable for sophisticated investors who have medium to long-term investment horizon. It will be available in both the Malaysian Ringgit and the US Dollar classes, which offers options for investors to invest in their preferred currency.
The minimum investment amount is RM100,000 (MYR class) or USD25,000 (USD class).
