| Year End | 31 December |
| Accounts Published | April |
| Annual General Meeting | June |
| Dividend Paid | May |
About us
Find out more about our investment objective, approach, portfolio and performance.
Latest news
Update from our investment manager, Sebastiaan Berger – 14 June 2022
Small steps are the giant leaps
It is undoubtedly true that following his election in 2020, President Biden failed to make good on his campaign promises with respect to Cuba and did not "… promptly reverse the failed Trump policies that have inflicted harm on the Cuban people and done nothing to advance democracy and human rights..".
Although proper explanations were never given many people believe that Biden’s change of strategy was driven by the fact that Donald Trump won the State of Florida during the 2020 Presidential elections by depicting President Biden and the Democratic Party as communists and socialists.
In addition, it would appear that the Democratic candidates in Florida were able to convince Biden that a tough Cuba stance would improve their chances to gain extra seats during the upcoming midterm elections (8 November 2022) where 28 U.S. Representatives from Florida will be elected and incumbent Republiucan Senator Marco Rubio might be defeated in the Florida U.S. Senate race.
It therefore came as somewhat of a surprise that on 16 May 2022 the Biden administration announced its first measures to ease the U.S. Cuban Embargo regulations and on 8 June 2022, amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations were published in the (U.S.) Federal Register. The summary contained therein reads as follows:
The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to implement elements of the policy announced by the Administration on May 16, 2022 to increase support for the Cuban people. This rule authorizes group people-to-people educational travel to Cuba and removes certain restrictions on authorized academic educational activities, authorizes travel to attend or organize professional meetings or conferences in Cuba, removes the $1,000 quarterly limit on family remittances, and authorizes donative remittances to Cuba. These amendments also add or update several cross references.
Acting in my personal capacity, I very much welcome the measures and although these are only small steps I do believe that any step to eliminate the U.S. Cuban embargo is a step into the right direction.
Spotlight on the portfolio
CEIBA has a 40% holding in the Cuban joint venture company TosCuba S.A., which is constructing the 401-room Meliã Trinidad Península Hotel. This hotel is situated on the south coast of Cuba close to the historic city of Trinidad and will be the first modern international-standard beach resort hotel in the area.
Completion of the construction process is expected to take place during 2022, with a soft opening scheduled for the first quarter of 2023 and the official launch of the hotel during Cuba’s international Tourism Fair in May 2023. For more information, please watch the short video below.
Key People
Sebastiaan Berger
Lead Manager
Sebastiaan A.C. Berger is a Dutch trained lawyer who has resided in Cuba since 1996. He has been assisting foreign investors in Cuba since 1996, first as founder of the Havana office of an international law firm, then as a founding partner of Berger, Young and Associates (1998). He has been the lead investment manager of CEIBA Investments Limited and Representative of the Havana Office of CEIBA Property Corporation Ltd. (CEIBA) since 2002.
Stephen Coltman
Senior Investment Manager
Stephen Coltman is a Senior Investment Manager within the Alternative Investment Strategies division at abrdn. Stephen has extensive experience investing across both public and private markets and spent the majority of his formative years based in Latin America, including a 3 year period in Cuba during the 90s. Stephen is a CFA charterholder.*
* CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are trademarks owned by CFA Institute
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Sebastiaan Berger
Lead Manager
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Stephen Coltman
Senior Investment Manager
Stephen Coltman is a Senior Investment Manager within the Alternative Investment Strategies division at abrdn. Stephen has extensive experience investing across both public and private markets and spent the majority of his formative years based in Latin America, including a 3 year period in Cuba during the 90s. Stephen is a CFA charterholder.*
* CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are trademarks owned by CFA Institute
John Herring
Chairman
John qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1982. In 1986, John joined the corporate finance department of Kleinwort Benson, where he was involved in the IPOs on the LSE for several companies. In 1996 he established his own private equity advisory business and joined the boards of a number of public and private companies including JD Wetherspoon plc where he became deputy chairman and served as a non-executive director for 14 years. He is currently the non-executive chairman of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group Limited. John acts as a Consultant to Northview Investment Fund Limited which currently owns 32,150,544 Ordinary Shares representing 29.86 per cent. of the existing issued share capital of the Company.
Trevor Bowen
Non-Executive Director
Experienced director with over 30 years’ experience spanning across a variety of industries. Trevor spent 11 years as a partner of KPMG and 17 years managing U2 and other artists. Trevor has acted as a non-executive director on a number of boards, most notably a director on the board of Ulster Bank for 9 years, which included 6 years as the chairman of the Banks audit committee. He is an Irish national and a Qualified Chartered Accountant.
Keith Corbin
Non-Executive Director
Principal and executive chairman of Nerine International Holdings Limited, a network of trust and fiduciary services companies with operations in Guernsey, British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, India, and Switzerland and serves as a director of a number of regulated financial services companies. He is also the senior independent non-executive director of HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited, a FTSE 250 company. Keith is an Associate of Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) and a Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
Peter Cornell
Senior Independent Director
Peter is a founding partner of Metric Capital, a pan-European special situations fund. He is a non-executive Director of F&C Commercial Property Trust Limited and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Madrid Business School. Previously he was Global Managing Partner of Clifford Chance until 2006. During his 36 year tenure with Clifford Chance his roles included managing partner for Spain and Continental Europe. He then became managing director of Terra Firma, a European private equity firm until 2011. Peter holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and History.
Colin Kingsnorth
Non-Executive Director
Colin is a partner and director of Laxey Partners Limited, a UK-based active value investment firm focusing on closed-end funds and property investments. Colin previously worked for Robert Fleming Asset Management, headed the investment trust research at Olliff & Partners and managed the emerging markets fund of Buchanan Partners Limited. In 1995, Colin co-founded Regent Kingpin Capital Management. In 1997, he founded Laxey Partners Ltd with Andrew Pegge. Since then Laxey Partners Ltd has become a prominent active value investor focusing on closed-end funds and property investments. Colin holds a BSc in Economics and is a CFA Charterholder.
Jemma Freeman
Non-Executive Director
Jemma Freeman is the Executive Chairman of Hunters & Frankau Limited, the appointed exclusive distributor for Habanos S.A.'s cigar portfolio in the United Kingdom having joined the business in 2002. Previously, Jemma was a Strategic Planner in the advertising industry. She currently holds the position of Vice Chair of ITPAC, an Advisory Council established to support the tobacco trade in the UK. Jemma is also a Trustee of a Cancer charity focused on immunotherapy research.
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John Herring
Chairman
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Trevor Bowen
Non-Executive Director
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Keith Corbin
Non-Executive Director
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Peter Cornell
Senior Independent Director
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Colin Kingsnorth
Non-Executive Director
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Jemma Freeman
Non-Executive Director
Jemma Freeman is the Executive Chairman of Hunters & Frankau Limited, the appointed exclusive distributor for Habanos S.A.'s cigar portfolio in the United Kingdom having joined the business in 2002. Previously, Jemma was a Strategic Planner in the advertising industry. She currently holds the position of Vice Chair of ITPAC, an Advisory Council established to support the tobacco trade in the UK. Jemma is also a Trustee of a Cancer charity focused on immunotherapy research.
Financial calendar
Company Details
CEIBA Investments Limited
Registered Office:
Dorey Court,
Admiral Park,
St Peter Port
Guernsey
GY1 2HT
The Company was incorporated in Guernsey as a non-cellular company limited by shares on 10 October 1995 under registration number 30083. It was admitted to the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 22 October 2018.
The Company is a Registered Closed-ended Collective Scheme pursuant to The Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987, as amended, and the Registered Collective Investment Schemes Rules 2015 issued by the Commission. The Company operates under the Companies Law and ordinances and regulations made thereunder.
The Company is a country fund with a primary focus on Cuban real estate assets.
The Company will seek to deliver the investment objective primarily through investment in, and management of, a portfolio of Cuban real estate assets, with a focus on the tourism-related and commercial property sectors. Cuban real estate assets may also include infrastructure, industrial, retail, logistics, residential and mixed-use assets (including development projects). The Company may also invest in any type of financial instrument or facility secured by Cuba related cash flows or other receivables.
In addition, subject to the investment restrictions set out below, the Company may invest in other Cuba-related businesses, where such are considered by the Investment Manager to be complementary to the Company’s core portfolio (“Other Cuban Assets”). Other Cuban Assets may include, but are not limited to, Cuba related businesses in the construction or construction supply, logistics, energy, technology, and light or heavy industrial sectors.
Investments may be made through equity, debt or a combination of both.