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26 Aug 2010

Centaur Appointed Hedge Fund Administrator at Scipion Capital

HedgeCo News - Frontier market investment specialist, Scipion Capital, has appointed hedge fund specialist, Centaur Fund Services to take over fund administration for its range of funds.

"To be a successful frontier markets investor you must understand the landscape." Nicolas Clavel, CIO and founder of Scipion, said, "There are outstanding returns available in frontier markets, but accessing them requires an intimate knowledge of the regions and an agile and nuanced strategy to capitalise on the opportunities as they appear. There is no such thing as a generalised frontier market strategy."

Centaur will provide Scipion with the full suite of fund administration services, including fund accounting and investor and corporate services. Scipion’s fund range, including the firm’s flagship Commodities Trade Finance Fund, will use Centaur’s cutting edge iNAV process model, which provides an accurate daily NAV calculation and support services around the funds.

"Scipion’s range of funds has highly specialised and innovative strategies." Ronan Daly, Chairman of Centaur, added, "In many cases, the strategies they offer their investors are the first of their kind in the market."

Scipion was established in February 2007 by Nicolas Clavel, who has over 30 years’ experience of the financial services industry in Africa, with notable previous roles including CEO of both Citibank in Senegal and Stanbic Bank Sarl in the Congo.

The firm has an outstanding track record investing in Africa. The Scipion Commodity Trade Finance Fund, launched in August 07, has returned 35% since inception. The firm’s other strategies, The Scipion Alpha Seeker Fund, and the Scipion Ai40 Index Tracker Fund, the world’s first pan-African investible index, have both made positive returns for the year to date.

Established last year, Centaur already has approximately $1 billion in assets under administration. Its founders, Ronan Daly, Karen Malone and Eric Bertrand, have over 50 years of combined experience working within the hedge fund market in Europe.