The Fund, which was established in April last year, has so far achieved 34 percent growth, resulting in its being named a top-performing fund in the last quarter of 2006 in a leading investment industry survey by Alexander Forbes.
Leina Gabaraane, who is the Managing Director of Stanbic Investments, says the performance of the Fund shows that the assumption that Batswana are more of consumers than savers may be false, adding that the Fund topped the P100 million mark much quicker than was anticipated.
The success demonstrates that previous assumptions about our market need to be modified. It may be true that we lack a deeply entrenched savings culture, but this is not because Batswana are short-sighted or prefer spending to saving. A key reason is the lack of appropriate savings products in our market, Gabaraane says.
"Another lesson from this success is that Batswana are learning to assess investment risk and some categories of investors may have a stronger risk appetite than was previously thought.
The Fund is marketed and managed by Stanbic Investments Botswana that has been so encouraged by the product's success that further additions to its investment range may be fast-tracked.
The Stanbic Managed Prudential Fund is aimed at institutions, small pension funds and the private investor.
Its managers follow prudential guidelines to create an investment vehicle that meets the moderate risk and solid growth requirements of the pension fund industry.
It manages risk and seeks growth by taking positions in a range of local and international instruments, including equities, bonds and cash.
Investors accept a somewhat higher level of risk than a specialist money market fund, but long-term returns can be even higher.
Stanbic Investments Botswana began operations in 2003. It achieved its first big marketplace success with the launch of a pula-based money market fund aimed at conservative investors looking for the best short-term yield a year later.
Since its inception, inflows topped P1 billion within 12 months.
"We first launched a low risk product, then moved to moderate risk with the managed fund. Both have been highly successful, says an ebullient Gabaraane.
"We may therefore accelerate plans to test local demand for a pure equity fund - a unit trust that holds relatively high risks because of stock exchange volatility. But history shows in market after market that this asset class has the best record for long-term capital growth.
"A certain level of sophistication is needed as many investors who commit to equities do so while building a diversified portfolio in which several asset classes are represented.
However, experience to date indicates that local investors are looking for new options and will support you if they trust your brand and your expertise."
