The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relevant to wealth advisors and their clients.

Zennor Asset Management
London-headquartered Zennor Asset Management has launched the Luxembourg-domiciled Zennor Japan Himawari Fund, to capitalise on the potential of high-quality, cash-rich large-cap companies in Japan.

The Japan Himawari Fund aims to deliver strong long-term capital growth by investing predominantly in the 350 largest listed companies in Japan. The fund’s managers will identify between 25 and 55 companies that have clear signs of undervaluation across three categories – overlooked assets, mispriced cash flows and underearners, the firm said in a statement. Once identified, they will draw on their experience of investing in Japan to identify catalysts that can drive the share prices higher.

The new fund will be jointly managed by the David Mitchinson, Zennor’s CIO and senior partner, and by portfolio manager Nicolò Vezzoso, who joined Zennor in late 2025 from the Italian fund group Anima, where he managed equity strategies totalling over $4 billion, with a focus on Japan.

“In Japan, ‘Himawari’ means sunflower, a symbol of positivity and optimism – for us it symbolises the opportunity to optimise capital allocation, unlock hidden value and turn balance-sheet strength into accelerated earnings growth. Japan remains undervalued and under-owned,” Vezzoso said. “Its companies are under increasing pressure to improve capital structures and market valuations by reshaping and shrinking their balance sheets – many of which are overflowing with cash and non-core assets.”

With almost $2 billion in assets under management and an infrastructure backed by a board of directors with investing experience in Japan, Zennor’s new fund reinforces its ambitions to expand its product range. Founded by James Salter and David Mitchinson in 2020, Zennor launched the IUP Zennor Japan Fund in February 2021, the WS Japan Equity Income Fund in April 2023, the micro-cap-focused Luxembourg Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF), and the Zennor Japan Special Situations Fund in July 2024.

“Corporate culture in Japan is shaped by quiet and sustained interactions rooted in Shinrai (abiding trust). Local knowledge, cultural fluency and continuity of thinking are decisive advantages when investing in Japan,” Salter said. “This is especially important in a market where research coverage beyond only the very largest companies is often limited in both depth and quality. We believe this strategy, focused on Japan’s top companies, is the perfect complement to our existing funds, expanding our overall capacity.”

Spiro, NewTrails Capital
Spiro, an African electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy infrastructure platform, has closed its latest funding round at $270 million. This follows a newly-finalised $55 million investment from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese growth-stage investment fund focusing on emerging markets with locations in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Nigeria.

Building on the support of long-standing institutional partners such as FEDA, Spiro’s latest equity round also draws global capital from Europe and Africa, Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane and FEDA, on top of the recent backing from Nithio and the Africa Go Green Fund, the firm said in a statement.

“Having deployed 100,000 electric vehicles and 2,500 smart-swap stations across seven active markets, Spiro has firmly moved past the proof-of-concept phase. Partnering with NewTrail Capital’s deeply experienced team marks a powerful new chapter for Spiro as we prepare for the next steps of our pan-African and international expansion,” Gagan Gupta, founder of Spiro and chairman of Equitane, said.

“We believe Spiro is driving a profound “energy revolution” across mobility use cases in Africa. This represents not only a vast and highly imaginative market opportunity, but also the potential to grow into an infrastructure-like business that creates meaningful commercial, social, and environmental value,” Yufan Zhang, founding partner of NewTrails Capital, added.

“As a Chinese fund committed to investing in Africa’s energy transition and green technology, we are also very encouraged to see Chinese supply chains and financing playing an increasingly important role in this process,” Zhang said.

NewTrails Capital is a growth-stage investment fund dedicated to emerging markets across Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

Magellan Capital
Magellan Capital, an investment manager regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), has launched the Magellan Asset Backed Opportunities Fund OEIC Limited. 

The fund, which launched with $50 million in seed capital, is incorporated in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and registered with the DFSA as a domestic fund. It is the first institutional open-ended vehicle to invest in asset-backed facilities across the GCC and Europe, with a portfolio comprising diversified assets, including loans to SMEs and individual borrowers, Magellan said in a statement. 

Among other features, the fund can invest in Shariah-compliant facilities. 

Magellan said the fund is targeting more than $250 million in assets under management in the medium term.

Headquartered in Dubai, Magellan has affiliated businesses in Abu Dhabi and London.