Sunday Okobi
Risevest, Nigeria’s leading digital investment platform, is set to launch three mutual funds on the Risevest app and Rise Business, a product for businesses with money management features.
At an event in Lagos, recently with the theme: ‘The Ascent’, the Product Manager, Risevest, Ebube Ilo, told journalists that over the past two years, the firm has seen the Nigerian economy shift in interesting ways, such as the exchange rate currently stabilizing, the benchmark interest rate declining, and NGX’s strong growth.
According to Ilo, “These changes require us also to evolve and give you greater exposure to more Nigerian opportunities, and that’s why today, for the first time, mutual funds are coming to Rise. We are launching three funds built around the three jobs that we believe your money should be doing: growth, liquidity, and income.”
He disclosed that Risevest Naira Equity Fund would be actively managed and invested in a basket of Nigeria’s strongest listed companies across six sectors: financial services, consumer goods, ICT, oil and gas, industrial goods, and agriculture, to beat the NGX 30.
“Risevest Dollar Fund would be a professionally managed portfolio of dollar-denominated, low-risk investments, including Nigerian government eurobonds, corporate eurobonds, and other money market instruments, and would hold no equities.
“Risevest Money Market Fund is a money market fund that would be invested in short-term, low-risk instruments such as treasury bills, fixed deposits, commercial papers, and certificates of deposit, and is designed to keep money accessible while it earns interest,” Ilo said.
The product manager added that these funds, upon launch, would be managed by RV Fund Management Limited, Rise’s SEC-licensed fund manager. United Capital Trustees as the trustee, a role that exists to protect investors’ interests independently of Rise. First Bank of Nigeria as the custodian, which means the fund’s assets are held with the bank and not with Rise.
Rise also launched Rise Business, a multi-currency account built for Nigerian companies that trade or operate across borders.
At the launch, the Product Manager of Rise Business, Solomon Olalemi, said the product grew out of a question the company kept hearing after more than five years of helping Nigerians hold and grow their money: “When can my business do the same?”
He stated that the invention of Rise Business gives businesses four accounts in their registered business name, in USD, GBP, EUR, and NGN, each with its own account details, which overseas clients and suppliers can verify.
“Businesses can send payments directly to recipients in 60+ countries, including USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, CNY (China); receive money through their account numbers, and convert between currencies, all from one platform. It is aimed at importers, exporters, small businesses, agencies and consultancies that regularly move money between Nigeria and other markets.
“Beyond payments, Rise Business lets companies put idle cash to work through a business dollar investment, quoted at 10 percent per annum, and a naira investment, quoted at an average of 23 percent per annum, both described as low risk. Onboarding is designed to be fast: businesses sign up with their CAC number, Rise handles the verification, and they can start transacting in under five minutes. Teams can also be added to manage the account together,” he said.
On the mission behind it, the co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Risevest, Tony Odiba, said the launch fits the company’s broader goal.
He said: “At Risevest, we believe in building wealth for generations. If you are familiar with our mission and our vision, our mission has always been very simple: giving Africans access to wealth-grade opportunities, and what is happening here today is another step forward towards that.”
Since its start in 2019, Risevest has grown to offer products such as Hisa, Assetbase, and now Rise Business.
The event featured several guest speakers such as Principal Investor Relations at Moniepoint, Chidinma Okoli, and CEO of Fruitylife, Samuel Jegede, who shared additional financial knowledge with a room full of Risevest customers, including some who came from Kano to attend the launch event.