Marble Capital launches N3bn commodities fund to deepen commodities market
By Cynthia Ezekwe
Marble Capital Limited, a leading ethical and Shari’ah compliant fund manager in Nigeria, has launched its N3 billion commodities fund to enhance product diversification in the Nigerian economy, and deepen commodities market.
The Marble Halal Commodities Fund (MHCF) recently launched in Lagos marks the first commodities fund to be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and domiciled in the agro-economic and extractive sector.
The company noted that the N3 billion fund consists of 30,000,000 units of N100 each at par payable in full on application, adding that the fund which primarily invests in commodities-linked instruments, operates based on the principles of Shari’ah and as such only invests in halal -certified investment instruments.
It also emphasised that the asset class was designed not only to impact the Nigerian financial market, but the entire economic sector, most especially but not limited to the agriculture industry.
Providing more insights about the fund, Ibrahim Jimoh, analyst at Marble Capital said “There is a 90- day period after which the funds invested can be redeemed. He stressed that N50, 000 was the minimum which translates to 500 units at the rates of N100 per unit.
Dayo Obisan, executive commissioner for operations, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while speaking recently at the launching ceremony of the fund in Lagos noted that the fund would play a key role in the attainment of the 2015–2025 Nigerian capital market master plan of the commission.
Obisan, noted that one of the cardinal points was for 25 per cent of the market capitalization to come from non-interest areas such as Marble Halal Commodities Fund.
Also speaking, Akeem Oyewale, chief executive officer, Marble Capital Limited said the fund would enhance product diversification in the Nigerian economy while preventing loss of investments to Ponzi schemes and funny crowd funding programmes.
“The main objective of the fund is to provide investors with income diversification and generate returns by investing in diverse halal- compliant instruments. In addition, the fund would also contribute to the economic growth of the country. We believe that we will be able to formalise a lot of non-formal agricultural investments and that would allow investors to scale investment opportunities,’’ Oyewale said.
He also noted that the MHCF is open to both retail and institutional investors and compliant with the PenCom guidelines for mutual fund investments, adding that the minimum amount required for investment is N50,000.
On his part, Ali Ango, chairman, Marble Capital Limited said the fund would be invested in a series of commodities-linked instruments, including gold and precious metals among others, adding that the launch was timely, especially, coming from the raging floods that ravaged Nigeria last year, prompting commodities exchanges not only to prioritise agriculture production but also processing.