Commonwealth Funds: Africa Fund
Africa Fund Fact Sheet (XBRL Data Files)
Why Africa Now?
Over the last decade, it has become evident to us that emerging markets of the world have been supported by the continuing inflow of capital invested in industrial capacity, financial products, healthcare, power generation facilities, sanitation and clean water production designed to collectively produce goods and services for not only the host countries but for export as well. Many countries within the continent of Africa can be named among these growing nations.
The continent of Africa is known for being both a resource-rich area representing the second largest land mass and being populated by approximately 15 percent of the world's citizens many of whom are believed to be members of a growing base of consumers.
To capture this potential emergence by investing in companies within these selected countries can be challenging at best. We believe the process requires a dedicated research effort and analysis of the various government inter-country alliances, the separate marketplaces where the financial instruments of the companies are traded, the legal framework and governance overseeing these endeavors as well as an analysis of the financial systems employed to provide information for the investing public.
After thorough consideration of these and other factors, it is our opinion there are significant opportunities available which we believe represent long term potential. It is our goal to have many of these opportunities available through the Africa Fund portfolio.
The investment objective of the Africa Fund is to provide long-term capital appreciation and current income by investing in various African countries' financial markets and economies.
Because the Fund only recently commenced operations, expense ratios were calculated using estimates, including estimates of certain asset levels, for the Fund's initial fiscal period of operations. Many factors impact the Fund's expense ratio, including the level of net assets. If the Fund is unsuccessful in raising assets to the estimated levels for the initial fiscal period, the Fund's expense ratio may be significantly higher. Investors should consider the impact expenses will have on returns over time and that a higher expense ratio will detract from the Fund's performance. The expense ratio of the Fund for its initial period of operations will be available in the semi-annual report for the period ended April 30, 2012.
Risks of Investment: Learn about the principal risks of investing in the Africa Fund, which includes market, foreign security and geographic risk.
