Dragon Capital launches closed-end trust

Friday, April 25, 2008
Viet Nam investment specialist Dragon Capital has launched a closed-end investment trust looking to capitalise on the region's property opportunities.
The Dragon Capital Viet Nam Property fund was listed on AIM last week, seeded with an initial $90m (£45m) from institutional investors.
It is the sixth product in Dragon Capital's suite of funds, all of which target Vietnam and which encompass small and large cap equities, debt and natural resources.
John Shrimpton, co-founder of Dragon Capital, said the new trust would run on a diversified portfolio of investments from the real estate sector.
He said the firm's experience in property to date made the fund a natural extension.
Shrimpton explained: "Dragon Capital has grown up alongside Vietnam's nascent corporate and financial sectors.
"Our 12 years of real estate experience here and long-standing relationships with a broad swathe of the country's leading corporates provide excellent foundations on which the Viet Nam Property fund will seek to build successfully."
He said he was pleased to have raised a healthy amount of start-up money from high end clients against an uncertain global backdrop.
Neil Thurston, head of Dragon Capital's property team, said he was bullish on prospects for the country.

He said: "Viet Nam's rapid growth has resulted in acute under-supply across a range of property categories. Our aim will be to seek out investments that are most likely to benefit from the raw growth of the domestic economy."

Viet Nam has been one of the strongest Asian markets in recent years, with the local stockmarket returning 68 per cent since the start of 2006 against the MSCI Emerging Markets index return of 56.4%. (Financial Times)