The RenAsset Africa ex S.A. Fund has been sold to Drakens Capital, while the Renaissance Sub-Saharan Fund has been closed, according to Sven Richter, Fund Manager at Drakens Capital.

Renaissance Asset Managers (South Africa) has been sold and renamed Drakens Capital in a management buyout, which occurred in conjunction with the selling of a number of UCITS funds.

“The Sub-Saharan Fund was on the Lux platform, when it was decided by our parent company at that stage to end the other funds in Lux. The fund in itself was not large enough to support the platform so we had to shut it,” Richter said.

“Very disappointing for us as longest track record but no choice it was best move for investors as costs as stand-alone fund on the platform would have been too onerous for them,” he told Africa Global Funds.

“We are now managing the Africa ex-SA fund on the Irish platform and also do segregated mandates. Have renamed the company and are now a stand-alone fund manager based in Johannesburg but managing funds on the Irish platform,” he added.

Richter said that the RenAsset Nigeria Fund was merged with the Africa ex-SA fund as it was too small and no new investors wanted to come in at that stage, so the costs were too high.

“We talked to the existing investors who wanted to stay in and decided that it was more cost effective to merge with the Africa ex SA fund,” he explained.

In addition, a number of UCITS funds of RenAsset Management have been sold to Mori Capital Management.
Accordingly, Mori now manages the funds formerly known as the RenAsset Eastern European Fund and RenAsset Ottoman Fund.

With decades of investment experience in emerging and frontier markets, Richter has has successfully managed the respective funds at RenAsset for a number of years.

RenAsset Management was a London FCA registered asset management group formed in 2003 with offices in London, Guernsey, Moscow, Istanbul and Johannesburg.

The business was part of the Renaissance Group.

In March 2013 Renaissance Asset Managers was sold to Kazimir Partners.

In January 2016 Kazimir Partners disposed of its regulated funds business.

Neither RenAsset Management, Kazimir Partners nor their shareholders have any ownership or executive role in Mori Capital Management or Drakens Capital.

“Form my side we consider Drakens Capital to be a specialist emerging markets manger managing equity fund/mandate in emerging and frontier markets with a sustainability mandate. We have always considered sustainability as important but now articulate it and place it at the forefront of our investment approach,” said Richter.