Invesco Rolls Out New $30 Million Metaverse Fund

Global asset management firm Invesco has launched an investment fund focused on all things Metaverse.

The Invesco Metaverse Fund is registered in Luxembourg and has a size of approximately $30 million, a spokesman for Invesco told Decrypt. The Metaverse refers to an integrated network of immersive 3D worlds and online communities where people interact by using virtual reality headsets and augmented forms of reality.

The fund invests in large, medium, and small-cap companies across the Metaverse Value Chain, which, according to marketing materials shared with Decrypt, “encompasses many distinct and interrelated sectors that help facilitate, create, or benefit from the growth of immersive virtual worlds.”

Citing a PWC December 2020 report that estimates that virtual and augmented reality have the potential to add $1.5 trillion to the global economy, Tony Roberts, the fund manager, said the Mataverse’s interconnectivity “will likely have a transformative impact across industries as diverse as healthcare, logistics, education and sport.”

“We will seek to capitalize on these opportunities through a highly selective, valuation-conscious approach,” added Roberts.

Invesco spots 7 key trends

The Invesco Metaverse Fund is an actively-managed fund that will invest in seven key thematic areas, including next-generation operating and computer systems, hardware and devices that provide access to the Metaverse, and networks for hyper connectivity.

Other areas of investments will encompass immersive platforms developed with artificial intelligence, blockchain solutions, the interchange tools required to bring about interoperability of the systems, as well as services and assets that will facilitate the digitization of the real economy.

The Invesco Metaverse Fund’s portfolio is geographically diverse, featuring companies based in the U.S., Asia, Japan, and Europe, although the firm declined to provide details of the companies “just yet.”

The fund’s performance will be measured against the MSCI AC World (Net Total Return) benchmark, and its management fee will be 0.75%, a spokesman for Invesco told Decrypt.

Invesco launched its first blockchain-related exchange-traded fund (ETF) in March 2019 on the London Stock Exchange. The firm was also actively seeking to roll out several ETFs tied to Bitcoin in the U.S., although to no avail.

In November last year, Invesco partnered with crypto indices provider CoinShares to launch its first European exchange-traded product (ETP) backed by physical Bitcoin.