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South African stock exchange investors are about to get their first opportunity to bet on income from housing students enrolled at the country\u2019s campuses.<\/p>\n
Inkunzi Wealth Group, a Johannesburg-based money manager, intends to offer shares in a student accommodation fund on the city\u2019s main exchange before the year is out, CEO Owen Nkomo said in an interview.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s demand from listed property investors for an alternative to exposure to shopping malls, offices and residential buildings, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could have listed a general fund, but we decided there\u2019s too many of these already – we need to bring a different story,\u201d said Nkomo, 37, whose firm has been operating since 2011.<\/p>\n
He wouldn\u2019t disclose how much money Inkunzi oversees for clients.<\/p>\n
The Inkunzi Student Accommodation Fund\u2019s assets will include R2.2 billion ($165 million) of student residences – 13 buildings constructed to provide housing at campuses in South Africa\u2019s Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces.<\/p>\n
The fund could later make purchases in Australia and other countries, Nkomo said.<\/p>\n
Investors in Johannesburg\u2019s 23-member FTSE\/JSE Africa Real Estate Supersector Index have fared worse than the broad benchmark this year, with the stocks posting a 1.2% gain, lagging the 15% advance in the main gauge.<\/p>\n
The MSCI World Real Estate Investment Trusts Index has climbed 10%.<\/p>\n
Inkunzi has identified an attractive area of specialization within the sector, said Nkomo, who earlier in his career worked for Citigroup, Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to get into a niche space, which we are in right now – student accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once the listing is completed, Nkomo will step down as CEO, while remaining chairman and devoting time to the student accommodation fund, he said. Sphelele Mncube, who joined Inkunzi from Allan Gray in 2013, will succeed him.<\/p>\n
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