Lagos, Nigeria –  The Nigerian Stock Exchange, in collaboration with Chapel Hill Denham, organized a training on alternative investments titled “Listed Real Assets: A Teach-In on Alternative Investments” on Wednesday, July 3, 2019.

The training covered core concepts of alternative investments, as well as applicable techniques for valuation, trading and investments in the asset class to help participants understand the use and benefits of alternative investments in their portfolio diversification strategies. Philip Southwell, a leading expert in alternative investments, Partner in Chapel Hill Denham and co-founder of the Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund and Nigeria Real Estate Investment Trust in Nigeria facilitated the 2-hour session, engaging participants to provide a working knowledge of alternative investments.

According to Jude Chiemeka, the Divisional Head of Trading Business, “the training is in line with the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s commitment to developing the non-traditional asset classes. This commitment informed the migration of the REITs and Closed End Funds (CEFs) into a separate board in December 2018 as well as the establishment of the mutual fund platform in February 2019 to promote transparency, visibility and liquidity for alternative investment vehicles.” He added that “the training will provide participants with the requisite knowledge of the appropriateness of the asset class in their overall asset allocation strategy and how to invest in them.”

 Also speaking on the training, Bolaji Balogun, the CEO of Chapel Hill Denham, said that “we believe that the markets have a critical role to play in Nigeria’s economic development. Investment portfolios in OECD countries and across emerging markets would typically have a 20 to 35 percent exposure to alternative investments. This area is historically where the Nigerian buy side and sell side participants have not focused prior attention and this is an opportunity to begin to engage with the brokerage community to increase their familiarity with alternative investments.”