Groups soft-close Frontier strategies as assets spike

HSBC Global Asset Management and Lloyd George Management have soft-closed their popular frontier markets strategies as the asset class sees a surge in inflows, Investment Week can reveal.

The HSBC GAM Frontier Markets Equity fund, managed by Andrew Brudenell, has been closed to new investors in a bid to preserve performance, the group said. Emerging and frontier market specialist Lloyd George, meanwhile, closed its own Frontier Markets strategy to new investments earlier this year when assets reached $1bn. Flows into frontier markets have accelerated over the past 12 months, a period in which investors fell out of love with traditional emerging markets. Assets in frontier market ETFs, for example, rose by over $500m in 2013 to hit $860m, according to data provider M...