VEF is an investment company focusing on private fintech companies in emerging markets. The company was founded in 2015 through a spin-off from VNV Global. Since its inception, VEF has delivered strong growth in NAV per share, driven by both current portfolio investment and portfolio exits. The company targets fintech companies that are in the early growth stage, where VEF aims to take minority stakes (~10-20%) in order to achieve board representation. VEF aims to be an active, long-term investor and help entrepreneurs and their teams on their growth journey.
We consider the main opportunity to be continued strong performance of the portfolio assets. VEF’s NAV performance is strongly tied to the development and performance of its two largest unlisted assets, Creditas and Konfio, representing more than 60% of NAV. Continued strong development of these would not only increase the market’s appreciation of these assets, but would likely strengthen investor confidence in VEF. Any promising acquisitions or successful exits would also improve investor confidence.
The main risk lies in the general market environment and the fintech sub-sectors in which the holding companies operate. Poorly timed investments and bad investment decisions in general are risks as well. Another risk would be poor performance in the holding companies, which conceivably could be driven by inefficient corporate governance, which could negatively impact the investment community’s perception of VEF as an active owner and, in turn, drive the NAV discount higher.
