MONETABRIEF - Capital Alliance Holdings will explore setting up fixed income funds after it completes the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Asia Frontier Capital, Deshan Pushparajah, Managing Director, Global Markets and Investment Banking said.
AFC focuses on equity but the platform can also be used for bonds, Pushparajah said.
AFC manages around 125 million dollars. It has invested in over a dozen frontier markets.
CAL has expertise in managing fixed income securities.
A bulk of 1.2 billion in funds under CAL management is in bonds, Kanishke Mannakkara, Group Chief Executive CAL said.
AFC had funds investing in countries ranging from Vietnam to Iraq.
Frontier markets reward local knowledge and patience, Thomas Hugger, who founded AFC in 2013 said.
Launching more country specific funds, to countries like Bangladesh or Sri Lanka would also be considered, Pushparajah said.
Though frontier markets have opportunities there were difficulties in getting in and out, Mannakkara said.
AFC had a mechanism on the ground helping beat the 'complexity' of getting in, and also had knowledge and expertise.
Suchir Desai, Fund Manager Asia Frontier Capital said he was bullish on frontier markets.
Valuations had improved and many countries had done reforms and had better macro fundamentals.
Uzbekistan for example was doing very well for several years. Its current President, a former Prime Minister, had done a number of reforms and opened the country and it was growing at 8 percent. (Colombo/Nov03/2026)