Harvesting potential

South Africa's hedge fund market has been hampered by strict limits on the amounts pension funds can invest, but Willem van der Merwe of African Harvest Alternative Investment believes anticipated changes in the rules later this year could give the local hedge fund industry a boost. By Alexander Campbell

South Africa's regulator serves as both a friend and an enemy to the country's hedge fund industry. Friend, because its exchange control laws encourage local pension funds and private investors to keep their money in South Africa rather than invest it abroad; enemy, because pension funds are restricted from investing more than a fraction of their capital in hedge funds or funds of funds.

But it has