Bulgaria’s Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) has licenced a new asset management company, as quoted by Dnevnik daily on April 10.

Ultima Capital Management, a subsidiary of Ultima Finance, plans to operate mainly on the mutual funds market. It will launch two specialised mutual funds. One of the funds would focus its investments on the international financial markets and the second – on Bulgaria.

The funds are expected to go public in the second half of the year, after they secure the approval of the financial watchdog.

In an interview with Dnevnik daily, Ultima Capital Management CEO Ivailo Tolev said the funds would open a new niche on the market and would invest in the high-risk end of the market. The underlying philosophy of the fund would be to offer non-standard products catering to venture capital investors willing to commit larger sums, he added.

Currently, 30-odd asset management companies in Bulgaria are offering more than 100 mutual funds. Most of them are mainly standard collective investment schemes focusing on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.

As of end-March, mutual funds in Bulgaria had 940 million leva in assets, a 200 million leva drop from end-2007. The outflow of assets came in two major waves amid investor fears that alternative investment schemes would be worst hit by the international financial crisis.