A new money market fund offering two billion units at N1.00 each has opened for subscription, targeting retail and institutional investors seeking short-term, low-risk returns.
The Berkshire Money Market Fund, an open-ended unit trust registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is being offered at par, putting the total offer at N2 billion.
According to the fund manager, Berkshire Asset Management Limited, the offer is designed to provide capital preservation, liquidity and competitive income returns consistent with prevailing opportunities in the Nigerian money market.
Rated by DataPro Limited and audited by Ijewere & Co, the fund will invest primarily in short-term, investment-grade money market instruments, with its performance benchmarked against the average yield of 91-day Nigerian Treasury Bills.
Subscription opens at a minimum of 10,000 units (N10,000), with later investments in multiples of 5,000 units.
The fund was launched in the presence of key industry stakeholders, including CFG Africa Trustees Limited as Trustee, Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria Limited as Custodian, and Cordros Registrars Limited as Registrar.
Commenting, the Managing Director/CEO of Berkshire Asset Management Limited, Mr. Adetola Odusote, said: “The launch remains a significant milestone in the company’s journey to create channels for optimisation of capital allocation for economic development, whilst leveraging technology to democratise investment by pooling small amounts of cash from everyday individuals to access low-risk, short-term debt instruments.”
Chairman of the company, Mr. Usman Abdulqadir, added that the fund would relieve investors the burden of selecting, valuing, monitoring and managing financial assets which will be handled by the manager.
He said: “Berkshire was formulated with the intent to deepen the Nigerian capital markets through development of a wide array of investment products, and the formal launch of its money market fund lays credence to the vision of the company to become the leading reference for digital investment solutions anchored on innovative products.
Managing Director of the fund’s trustee,CFG Africa Trustees Limited, Mr. Akindele Ogundepo, assured Nigerians that the trustee will oversee the fund’s operations to ensure compliance with investment objectives and protect investors’ interests.
He explained that pooling investors’ contributions could provide individuals with access to investment opportunities that may otherwise be out of their reach.