The IPO Wealth Fund, owned by Melbourne-based international fund manager Mayfair 101, has raised more than $30 million from a pool of high net worth investors seeking exposure to emerging small caps. Mayfair 101 Managing Director James Mawhinney is confident self-managed super funds are getting more comfortable taking a punt on tech firms.
“We are starting to see an increase in the breadth of investment scope of SMSFs, and as a result expect that SMSFs will start to contribute more towards technology investments both indirectly and directly,” he told The Australian. “Portfolio size, liquidity and risk appetite are all key considerations of the SMSF investment managers, however as a general rule we can expect this source of funds to steadily increase.”
The fund, which offers investors the ability to earn a rate of return higher than most traditional cash investment products and receive monthly distributions, has raised the $30m in just over a year since its launch last March.
Almost 67 per cent of investment in the fund came from individuals, 22 per cent from SMSFs, 7 per cent from companies and 4 per cent from trusts. Mayfair 101 has invested in a number of international start-ups, including India’s leading B2B payments company PayMate, Australian dining rewards app Liven and Israeli smart city tech outfit Bright Innovations.
“The focus of the scale-up is to fill the substantial credit gap that is evident in developing nations, while providing investors who are earning low (or even zero) returns in traditional investment products with a more effective place to park their money,” Mr Mawhinney said.
Mayfair 101 is looking to deploy more capital in its current portfolio, and Mr Mawhinney said there was increased demand for non-bank investment options given the current interest rates.