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Macquarie re-opens Chinese IPO fund

Investor demand continues to fuel Chinese IPO after a banner year in 2007.
Macquarie is re-opening its MQ IPO China Concentrated Fund. The fund invests in IPOs of Chinese stocks offered in Hong Kong, Singapore and the US. Since its inception in March 2007, when $450 million was raised for the fund, it has posted a 40.2% return.

Since its all-time high at 56% at the end of the third quarter last year, punters have taken profit, sending the fund to its current size at $350 million. Nick Thompson, head of non-flow structured products at Macquarie, says he plans to raise $100 million in this re-opening, which will begin today until further notice.

2007 was a banner year for Hong Kong IPOs, where mainland names dominated the scene û notable deals include China CITIC (HK$32bn), China Railway ($19bn), property developer Country Garden (HK$14.8bn), SOHO China (HK$14.8bn) and Fosun International (HK$13bn). A total of $295 billion was raised for 86 new listings. Some offerings climbed as much as 50% on the first day of trading.

However, not all newly listed names are sure-fire winners: 17 of the 86 newly listed stocks skidded below offer price on the first trading day in Hong Kong.

Despite increasing volatility in global markets, Ernst & Young believes the pipeline for 2008 in Hong Kong will remain robust. The accountancy says in a recent report it believes HK$260 billion will be raised, while PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates the number will be closer to HK$280 billion, with total number of deals to reach 90.

ôAs you go through 2008, you are going to see a bit more focus around greater size and probably greater quality coming through,ö Thompson says, ôThere is definitely polarization in the market towards higher calibre, higher quality and the larger-types of institutions listed in Hong Kong. A lot of the small caps will stay domestically focused in China,ö he adds.

ôWhen volatility comes to the market, finding the right IPO at the right time is going to become more difficult,ö he says. Thompson says the fund will be able to offer investors institutional access, diversification and quantitative management to these IPOs. He says the re-opening follows robust demand among investors for China-related opportunities.

Offered on a first-come, first-served basis, minimum initial subscription starts at $3,000, with a 5% front-end load and 1.5% p.a. management fee. Performance fee is at 10% on excess return that starts from a high-water mark of 5% p.a. hurdle.
¬ Haymarket Media Limited. All rights reserved.
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