German shipping company Schulte Group has launched a new maritime fund manager, Hanseatic Capital Management (HCM).
The fund manager has an investment focus on maritime real assets, specifically merchant vessels.
HCM will concentrate on a commercially balanced employment strategy, which will include both shorter and period charters, depending on the vessel segments.
The first fund to be launched, Hanseatic Fund VCIC Plc, aims to initially raise USD 120 million.
Applying a strong focus on investor protection at all times, its investment goal is on Handysize and Supramax bulk carriers and feeder-sized container vessels aged between four and 15 years. Other types of tonnage or different sizes will be considered as well.
Hanseatic Fund VCIC Plc will be regulated as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in line with the relevant EU directives.
The units of the Hanseatic Fund VCIC Plc also qualify as an eligible investment for the ‘Scheme for Naturalization of Investors in Cyprus by exception’, issued by the Republic of Cyprus. It therefore offers an investment opportunity in an asset class with great scope for diversification, which previously was not available under this scheme.