Michael Oyebola, Managing Director of the Asset Management business of FBNQuest, a part of the FBN Holdings group, has underscored the importance of investment diversification as a critical tool of personal and institutional financial planning in light of the prevailing economic realities in the country. He shared this insight as he reviewed early investment performance indicators in 2016 recently.
According to him “A simple look at the current investment climate in Nigeria following recent events that have occurred both locally and globally – from the drop in oil prices to the fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Naira – have reinforced the need for investment diversification for institutional and individual investors. Highlighting the various classes of investment options, he stated that while the usual rules of committing funds based on predetermined objectives and how much risk the investor is prepared to take in relation to the returns on his/her investments still apply, greater dynamism will be required to manage exposure on current savings and investments as the year unfolds. As an example, following the new policy directives of the CBN on domiciliary accounts, it is perhaps the right time for individual and institutional investors that have dollar funds to also consider investment instruments that accommodate such currencies and yield significant returns.
”As the New Year evolves, there has to be the growing recognition among large and small investors, as well as savers nationwide that there are credible and worthwhile alternatives to saving their locally and internationally denominated funds which can bring them good returns. As a leading asset management firm, we have seen an increase in investors moving their savings and investible funds to our Mutual Funds, as we have delivered consistent returns since inception. We have worked hard to raise public awareness on the benefits of mutual fund investing and are pleased that our efforts have resulted in phenomenal growth in the size of our total mutual fund assets under management, from NGN5.1bn at the end of 2010 to NGN31.6bn at the end of 2014 to NGN81.9bn at the end of 2015”.
Over the years, FBN Capital Asset Management, which is the Asset Management business of FBNQuest, has provided strategic advice and managed the funds of a broad spectrum of clients, including governments, corporations, institutional investors, HNIs and individual investors. Resultantly, as at 31st December 2015, its Money Market Fund (MMF) had grown to become the largest in Nigeria with NGN72.6bn, while the FBN Fixed Income Fund (FIF) is the second largest Bond Fund with NGN4.6bn and the FBN Heritage Fund (HF) is currently the largest Balanced Fund with NGN4.5bn. In December 2014, the firm was recognised as the best Asset Manager in Nigeria at the EMEAFinance African Banking Awards in London.
The investment banking division of FBNQuest was also awarded the 2015 Best Africa Investment Bank by the Africa Investor Group, and received other awards for 2015 Best Investment Bank in Nigeria by Global Finance Magazine for the fourth consecutive year; and the 2015 M&A Atlas Awards for Africa Deal of the Year.
