Bombora Investment Management is targeting opportunities in the pre-IPO space, particularly in technology, to capture early-stage growth in its specialist fund.
The firm’s $78 million Bombora Special Investment Growth fund invested in Australian and New Zealand companies which were pre-IPO and listed small caps. IT asset allocation consisted of 40-50% in listed companies, 40-50% in pre-IPO companies and 10-20% in cash.
This provided access to high growth businesses and a significant level of liquidity, which is crucial for funds in the small-cap space.
Mike Hill, managing director and co-CIO, said: “The December 2020 quarter was another busy period for us, with multiple new pre-IPO investments securing additional funding including Bike Exchange, MadPaws Limited, Nviso Limited and Mobecom Limited. We also successfully added new listed securities, participated in a series of IPOs and divested overweight positions across the portfolio”.
“The pipeline of opportunities is significant and we now have a number of our earlier investments which will hit the ASX boards through the first half of CY21. This is an exciting time for the team,” he says.
Gregg Taylor, co-CIO listed equities, added: “Bombora continues to provide attractive co-investment opportunities to our Fund investors enabling enhanced returns in a very strong pipeline of new transactions.
“The outlook for the Bombora fund continues to be positive across all segments of the portfolio and the whole team is working hard to guide these emerging growth companies as they execute operational objectives.”
The fund was rated by Evergreen Consultants which gave it a ‘highly commended’ rating for its diversification, liquidity and managers’ alignment of interest.
Last year, another fund focused on pre-IPO activity, Perennial Private to Public Opportunities, was the best-performing Australian equity fund of 2020.
