Another listed investment company unveiled

Tuesday 11th May 2004

Details of the second new listed investment company were released today by Salvus Strategic Investments.

The Salvus announcement comes 24 hours after Colville released details of its offer. Salvus is looking to raise $25 million, with oversubscriptions of another $25 million allowed.

It differs from Colville in that it has some institutional support, however the company refused to name where the support was coming from other that there was local support and four United Kingdom based institutions involved.

Salvus�s investment approach differs from Colville and the earlier Kingfish offer in that it is taking a value approach to selecting securities and its benchmark is the NZ Smaller Company Capital Index.

Salvus intends to build a portfolio of between 10 and 30 investments over the medium term targeting listed companies outside the NZSX top 40, the NZAX market and late stage unlisted companies.

The fund is being managed by Salvus Asset Management, a company owned and run by Andrew Couch and Simon Wilson. Both the fund managers have international experience investing in smaller companies derived from working for UK institutions.

Couch has 12 years experience in London working for Fleming Investment Management, Guinness Flight Global Asset Management and Newton Investment Management.

Wilson worked at Edinburgh Fund Managers for four years after completing his MBA.

Chairman Barrie Downey says that Salvus has chosen the smaller company sector of the New Zealand market because of its unusually attractive investment profile.

�The sector is characterised by companies which are either poorly researched or researched less thoroughly than the large listed companies, making it difficult for investors to adequately assess risk and return prospects..

"The New Zealand smaller company market is unusual because it offers a combination of value and attractive growth rates.�

He says that New Zealand has a thriving private company sector - research shows that there are about 3400 companies in New Zealand that generate revenues of greater than $10 million. The fact that only 4% of these companies are listed demonstrates the size of the unlisted market opportunity.

If you would like more information on this issue send an email to offers@sharechat.co.nz

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