Greenwich Investment Explains Benefits of Entertainment Fund

In a bid to encourage investment and savings culture within and outside the entertainment industry as well as attract investors to the entertainment industry, Greenwich Asset Management Limited (GAML) has launched the Initial Public Offer for the Nigeria Entertainment Fund to raise N1 billion from the investing public through the issuance of 10,000,000 units of the fund at N100 per unit. The fund will invest in the entertainment industry as well other various asset classes.

Speaking at the event organised by the firm recently in Lagos to formally present the fund to a group of entertainers and investors, the Managing Director of GAML, Mr. Dayo Obisan said the fund is to attract investors to the entertainment sector, adding it is the first mutual fund targeting the sector. He explained that a portion of the fund’s assets will be invested in the entertainment industry and thus will contribute to the growth of an already thriving industry.

Obisan also pointed out that the sector has been able to impact the income and lives of participants in the sector especially over the last two decades.

He added that the industry’s contribution to Nigeria’s Growth Domestic Product ( GDP) has been on the rise especially over the past five years, and is said to be the third largest employer of labour. While stating the sector is the fastest growing major market globally, he noted that the fund qualifies for securities in which Pension Fund Managers can invest in under the Pension Reform Act. According to him, individual and institutional investors will benefit from the safety, relatively cheaper costs and a good diversification opportunity the fund offers.

In his opening remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, Film House Cinemas, Mr. Kene Mpkaru said the entertainment industry needs to be better understood by financial institutions in order to create innovative and customised products to suit it, as there are peculiarities which may not allow the industry in the typical model most banks adopt for investment assessment. He maintained that entertainment, especially the film business is an avenue for revenue generation.

Mkparu cited the success of the movie Wedding Party as an example of the sort of revenues the movie industry will continue to record and hinted that there is a movie currently being concluded, which is estimated to gross over N1 billion in revenue. He urged investors to take the advantage of the fund to tap into the goldmine known as the entertainment industry.