New Star to give Heart of Africa the chop

Heart of Africa was initially suspended on 9 December last year and has remained frozen since then, despite New Star saying it would minimise the suspension period. "This [closure] highlights the risks of investing in specialist funds operating in a new sectors," says Adrian Lowcock, senior investment adviser at Bestinvest. The suspension was prompted by a number of liquidity issues in the sub-Saharan region, with Ghana and Nigeria in particular causing difficulties. In Ghana, where the fund was 21% invested, illiquidity around the time of the country's elections brought trading leve...