About Asia Frontier Capital
Asia Frontier Capital Ltd. is a pioneering fund management company that specializes in investing in high growth Asian frontier economies by managing the AFC Asia Frontier Fund, AFC Iraq Fund, AFC Uzbekistan Fund, and AFC Vietnam Fund.
Asia Frontier Capital was founded by CEO and Fund Manager Thomas Hugger after an MBO of the existing Leopard Capital entities in Hong Kong as well as Cayman Islands on the 1st June 2013. The strategic acquisition allowed the Asia Frontier Capital fund management team to further drive value creation for investors by increasing the focus on the firm's core competencies managing listed equity portfolios.
Thomas Hugger has more than 20 years of investment experience in frontier markets and is supported the wealth of experience held by AFC company directors, equity partners and investment team. The handpicked team comes from senior positions with the world's top investment banks, private banks and asset managers and have lead several entrepreneurial start-ups in frontier markets globally. Having pioneered investment initiatives across Asia, this group of individuals each brings a unique set of skills to the firm.
Under the direction of CEO and fund manager Thomas Hugger, the AFC Asia Frontier Fund continues to operate a combination of top-down and bottom-up strategy to achieve long-term capital appreciation investing in listed equities that have their principal business activities in high growth frontier markets of Asia. The country universe includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Georgia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia,
Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
On the 11th of December 2013 AFC launched the AFC Vietnam Fund under the Asia Frontier Capital (Vietnam) Limited company umbrella. The company and fund are directed by the executive leadership of Andreas Vogelsanger, CEO, Andreas Karall, CIO, and Thomas Hugger, COO, who have more than 75 years of experience managing investments in frontier markets, Asia and around the world.
Asia Frontier Capital’s third fund, the AFC Iraq Fund, was launched on the 26th of June 2015 to provide investors with exposure to the Iraq economy to capture the incredible potential of post-conflict Iraq. The essence of the AFC Iraq investment thesis is arbitraging the delta between the real Iraq risk, high as it is, versus the perceived risk which is much higher still. This delta is a function of an asymmetric information flow on Iraq, that is bound to narrow as this information flow begins to reflect the country’s real developments. The risk-award proposition of the AFC Iraq Fund argues that as this delta narrows, asset prices – that are priced at the perceived risk – should rise reflecting the real risk. This thesis in action can be seen in the performance of the fund’s major holdings over the last few years in a backdrop of relative stability, which provided a more stable and predictable macroeconomic framework for businesses and individuals to operate in, and to plan for capital investments on a scale not seen in the last prior decades of conflict. Building on AFC’s expertise investing in Iraqi equities since 2012 Ahmed Tabaqchali, Chief Strategist, manages the fund’s investments alongside Thomas Hugger, COO. As an Iraqi/British national who has been covering investments in the Middle East for 25 years Ahmed’s unique experience and network allow the AFC Iraq Fund to position itself to become an investment leader in the Iraq market.
The AFC Uzbekistan Fund was launched on 29th March 2019 and aims to achieve long-term capital appreciation for investors by capturing the value and growth potential in the recently liberalized economy of Uzbekistan. As the government pursues an ambitious privatization reform of all non-core assets and enterprises, it is anticipated that there will be a marked increase in secondary and primary listings on the Tashkent Stock Exchange, helping it to rebound from a near decade of dormancy which resulted in the significant undervaluation of listed companies today. The AFC Uzbekistan Fund is therefore designed to offer investors high returns from growth in the equities market of Uzbekistan whilst offering a portfolio that has a low correlation with global equity markets, with an investable universe consisting of listed companies that have their principal business activities in Uzbekistan as well as foreign listed companies that have the majority of their business in countries bordering Uzbekistan. The AFC Uzbekistan Fund is managed under the executive leadership team of Thomas Hugger and Scott Osheroff.
Asia Frontier Capital Ltd's subsidiary and investment advisor Asia Frontier Investments Limited is licensed and regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for Type 4: Advising on Securities and Type 9: Asset Management.