Kontiki Growth Fund plans more local investments
by Dionisia TabureguciNEW kid on the block at the South Pacific Stock Exchange Kontiki Growth Fund (KGF) has wasted no time in showing that it is here to do business. Late last month, it held its first annual general meeting for shareholders since it started operations in 2005 and it looks like a company shaping up to be a conduit for local businesses to make it to the stock market. In a way, this was to be expected, considering that there are the likes of Jack Lowenstein and John Courtney on its board of directors plus the heavy involvement of Kontiki Capital Ltd as its manager.
Lowenstein and Courtney are well known market advocates and are also founders of Kontiki Capital Ltd, which acts as advisor and manager to Kontiki Fund Limited (KFL), an open ended managed fund that has heavily invested in SPSE-listed companies. KFL is generally not affordable to Fiji investors because of it requirement of US$25,000 as usual minimum subscription. But now, local investors can participate in KFL through KGF, which had invested 27 percent of its total equity in KFL by December last year. History shows that KFL has had a colourful seven and half year life in terms of returns on investment, and quoted in US dollars, was running on par with returns in both the Australian and US stockmarkets.
