Stanbic fund over subscribedStory

Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare

THE Initial Public Offer (IPO) of the Stanbic Investment Fund (SIF), closed early last month with over 171 per cent over subscription.
The fund is an open-ended unit trust, investing in fixed income securities and seeks to maximise short-term income as well as long-term sustainable returns and capital appreciation.
It had 200,000 units on offer with an initial offer price of GH¢1.00 per unit. The offer lasted from December 15, 2010 to January 6, 2011.
 The Head of Stanbic Investment Services Limited ( SIMS), Mr Alex E Asiedu, a subsidiary of Stanbic Bank and managers of the fund told the Daily Graphic “the public responded positively to the IPO”.
“It was heavily over subscribed. As at the end of the IPO on January 6, 2011, it had been oversubscribed by 171 per cent”.
Giving the breakdown, Mr Asiedu said out of the 342 clients  who bought into the fund,  approximately 300 of them did so in their private individual capacities while the remaining, which he said constituted an insignificant figure were corporate institutions.
According to the head of the SIMS, the over subscription of the fund did not come as a surprise. “We knew it; because, there was a ready market for a tried and tested brand in investments and we knew that prior to launching,” Mr Asiedu explained.
The fund’s over subscription, he noted was also testimony to the fact that despite the numerous complaints from the public about low income, most people were still ready to invest part of their incomes for future use, adding “People are looking for investment products that would offer them higher interest but have lower risks”.
He stated that the subscriber base of the fund was currently moving towards a million after hitting 800, 000 last week.
“The size of the fund currently moving close to a million”, Mr Asiedu added and further promised subscribers that the fund’s resolved to ensure “ high yields and relatively low risks resulting from prudent management from the fund managers".
“We have started doing aggressive marketing and we are bringing the experience and track record that the Standard Bank Group has in fund managements world-wide to bear in managing this fund,” he added.
The Stanbic Bank Ghana is a member of the Standard Bank Group that, among other things manages over 60 billion funds world-wide.
The IPO of the SIF was launched on December 15 last year and ran for nearly a month. The fund which has Merchant Bank as its trustee is focused on fixed income funds.