MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG – NAUTILUS, a subsidiary of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange has received approval from the Financial Services Board (FSB) to offer a set of hedge fund products to the public.
Nautilus, is one of only a handful of managers to have received approval to date, in terms of the revised legislation published last year, making it possible for retail investors to access hedge funds.
These funds were previously available to professional and institutional investors only.
“We are very excited about this development and what it means for our company and the industry growth,” said Alexia Kobusch, Managing Director of Nautilus.
He pointed out the hedge fund industry in South Africa has tremendous scope for growth.
The sector is seen as largely underdeveloped with R74 billion assets under management, as at end December 2015, compared to the more than R43,8 trillion invested in hedge funds globally.
Nautilus has been operating as a managed account platform for the past eight years, administering a number of hedge fund portfolios in a very similar way to that of a hedge fund manager.
It is the only hedge fund manager that is completely independent from hedge fund service providers or investors, giving it total autonomy and neutrality in decision-making.
– CAJ News