In celebration of Women’s Month, Absa Private Bank has launched a private equity fund for women only.
According to research conducted by Momentum, private equity funds have outperformed the FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index by 18% per annum over the past 13 years.
The latest private equity survey conducted by KPMG and Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (Savca) showed that, last year alone, 803 deals worth R6billion were concluded and funds under management increased from R42,5billion to R56,2billion, a 32% increase. This year is expected to see an increase in deal activity. Very few women participate in these deals, though; they remain the domain of men.
According to Zarina Bassa, head of Absa Private Bank, despite the nearly 6Â 000 US-dollar millionaires who have been created as a result of BEE, few are women. The fund could increase awareness among women of the opportunities for wealth creation through private equity deals. The fund will also donate a portion of the profits made to charity.
Women who want to get into this type of action need to have a minimum investment of R250Â 000. As one woman observed, if the problem is that women have not been involved in the wealth creation in the country, how are they to find the money to invest in the fund? Bassa says Absa will allow groups of women to raise the capital as consortiums.
At the moment Absa Capital, which is running the fund, has a deal on the table worth R40million with a company looking for women shareholders.