Ebere Nwoji
FSL Asset Management, has outlined strategy to bridge the multi-billion-Naira funding gap facing agribusinesses across the country.
The firm which operates as an open-ended unit trust scheme, said the initiative focused primarily on securitised agricultural contracts, commercial papers issued by leading agri-firms, and exchange-traded commodities listed on registered platforms such as the AFEX Commodities Exchange and the Lagos Commodities Exchange.
The asset manager announced this during an interactive media briefing at the company’s office in Lagos, where the Chief Executive Officer of FSL Asset Management, Adetola Odukoya, briefed journalists alongside key members of the executive team.
The briefing was held with the support of other company executives, including the Team Lead, Fund Operations, Sunday Kadiri; Head, Sales and Marketing, Yussuff Abdulfatai; and Head, Brands and Communications, Victor Adaha.
Addressing newsmen at the launch, Odukoya emphasised that the fund was developed to solve two major market challenges: providing cheaper, flexible patient capital for agricultural production and processing, and protecting everyday investors from unregulated, high-risk commodity schemes that have proliferated in recent years.
He said, “Agriculture accounts for roughly 25 to 30 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP and remains a key driver of economic growth, yet the sector continues to face severe capital constraints.
“With this commodities fund, we are creating a transparent, SEC-regulated gateway that allows investors to earn competitive real returns from high-growth agricultural assets while providing much-needed, lower-cost financing to legitimate operators across the agricultural value chain.”
The launch comes alongside the introduction of the FSL Balanced Fund, a N2bn open-ended scheme designed to target moderate capital growth through a diversified portfolio of equities, fixed income, and money market instruments. The minimum subscription for the Balanced Fund is set at 100,000 units (N100,000) with a 90-day holding period.