Anderton, an investment company whose shareholder is Gamma Capital Markets - renowned, independent Italian asset managers - announces the launch of the Challenger Impact High Income Fund to raise a minimum of 15 million EUR in its first initial offering period from investors seeking opportunities in early stage companies, focused on innovation and environmental impact. Gamma Capital Markets manages over EUR 1.2 billion of European clients and is present in 5 countries.

- We intend to put investors’ money to work in the world of neutral interest rates. Challenger Impact High Income Fund is one of the first funds that give investors access to private market investment opportunities through subscription to an open-end fund, with potential return on investment significantly beating other asset classes

- says Pawel Osowski, director at Anderton SICAV plc.

-Our investment objective is to achieve mid-term capital growth, with a minimum of 3x cash on cash return on investment, 44% of IRR- with a 3-4 years horizon. Historically PE/ VC industries yield an average of 25~30%, depending on the vintage years – says Pawel Osowski. The Challenger Impact High Income Fund allows investors to achieve absolute returns in the venture capital field, based on short and mid-term investments. The Fund opens doors to opportunistic off-market deals - VC, pre-IPO, minority growth capital - and provides a safe harbor by operating in a licensed and heavily regulated scheme available for subscription through select brokerage houses throughout Europe

- The fund will invest in early-stage global businesses and SMEs within sectors proving above average growth potential. We provide financing to chosen, impactful companies in exchange for an equity share, combined with Revenue Based Investments - working capital in return for a fixed percentage of on-going gross revenues. The fund's investments focus on areas related to biotechnology, medical technologies (including diagnostics), technological innovations in sport, information security, supply chain and the transportation and communications market – says Jasper de Trafford, director at Anderton SICAV plc.

The fund’s impact investment strategy is aimed at investors who seek a capital investment that will make a positive environmental and social impact in addition to its economic objective of midterm high-yield returns – says Jasper de Trafford, director at Anderton SICAV plc. Venture capital is an attractive asset class due to the ability to get early access to potential market leaders of tomorrow, as well as generating strong returns for investors at a comparatively lower risk.

The fund’s impact investment strategy is aimed at investors who seek a capital investment that will make a positive environmental and social impact in addition to its economic objective of midterm high-yield returns – says Jasper de Trafford, director at Anderton SICAV plc. Venture capital is an attractive asset class due to the ability to get early access to potential market leaders of tomorrow, as well as generating strong returns for investors at a comparatively lower risk.

- Venture capital is also not as cyclical as most investors think, providing consistent strong returns through market cycles. Although individual venture capital investments are higher risk than public equity markets, venture capital portfolios are not.In fact, over the past 10 years, venture capital has been less volatile than public markets - says Joanna Stec-Gamracy, former country head for BlackRock and investment committee member at Anderton SICAV plc.

- Alternatives such as PE and VC is the fastest-growing asset class forecasted at 15.6% growth in AUM through 2025, with CEE markets taking the lead. We know these markets very well as we have spent several years advising, investing and starting companies within them– says Richard Piotrowski, director at Anderton SICAV plc. Anderton came up with an innovative idea for tapping an increasing retail demand for private equity and venture capital investments. - We believe the “Challenger Impact High Income Fund” is a creative way to provide eligible investors access to private equity investment opportunities, hopefully giving us a competitive advantage – says Joanna Stec-Gamracy.

The number of similar funds globally is estimated to be around 200. To put this into context just how innovative of a structure this is in VC, there are over 10,000 investors globally classified as “Venture Capital” funds. Despite investing in disruptive and innovative industries, the landscape of VC fund structures has largely remained unchanged. The fund is an open-end investment structure with only 3 years of capital freeze, whereas regular VC investments usually require 8 years of capital lock down. Investors may subscribe for, convert or redeem shares in a sub-fund, based on redemption regulations, directors notice and/or fund performance. Open-end structures make it easier for investors to invest due to the cleaner and more transparent subscription and monitoring process. 

Anderton SICAV plc is headquartered in Malta with significant operations in Warsaw (with a special focus on CEE countries), strategic partnerships in Monaco and Italy, and an outpost in Canada. This gives the company significant leverage, yet flexibility of an agile organization. 

Venture capital is also not as cyclical as most investors think, providing consistent strong returns through market cycles. Although individual venture capital investments are higher risk than public equity markets, venture capital portfolios are not.In fact, over the past 10 years,venture capital has been less volatile than public markets - says Joanna Stec-Gamracy, former country head for BlackRock and investment committee member at Anderton SICAV plc.

- Diversifying our assets from a geographical perspective means that our investment portfolio is spread across many different locations around the world in order to reduce risk and improve returns. We view risk primarily as the prospect of losing our clients’ capital, rather than any shortterm volatility or tracking error. Our target investments selection process is core to the management of risk – says Doreen Micallef director at Anderton SICAV plc

The fund’s Investment Manager and shareholder - Gamma Capital Markets Ltd - has approximately 1,2 bn EUR in assets under management. The group is independent of banks and other financial intermediaries, without any conflicts of interest. Gamma's business is 70% institutional and 30% retail and exposure of the firm's client portfolios accounts for 70% towards alternatives. Anderton, alongside Gamma Capital Markets, employs a proactive, research-based approach to investing. 

Anderton is a company formed and advised by a group of skilled professionals with a broad range of expertise in the area of financial markets, having worked for BlackRock, HSBC Private Bank, GE Capital, JPMorgan, Merck, IBM & Alpha Value. The fund supports portfolio companies in a variety of ways - providing strategic counsel and arranging senior-level development or M&A introductions.

We are very much interested in opportunities in Central and Eastern European Countries. The highly- educated, young, technologically savvy, affordable talent-pool in the CEE means there is yet ample opportunity for investors to get on the next big thing. The emergence of a developing ecosystem has been underscored by investors to date – says Eros Lombardo, CEO of Gamma Capital Markets, Anderton SICAV plc shareholder.