History
1991
City of London Investment Management was founded in 1991 by Barry Olliff. The company was formed out of the London-based operations of Olliff & Partners PLC (O&P) that had been founded by Barry in 1987. O&P was an agency stockbroker and corporate finance boutique specialising in the U.K. investment trust sector. As part of the brokerage research effort, the firm identified significant pricing inefficiencies particularly in those funds giving emerging markets exposure.
Barry determined the most appropriate way to capitalise on these inefficiencies was from an investment management standpoint and launched City of London Unit Trust Managers, the predecessor of City of London Investment Management in 1991. The first active emerging markets product, The Emerging Markets Country Trust, was launched in September 1991.
1994
In 1994, building on the success of the U.K. business, the firm launched a U.S. institutional emerging markets strategy for tax-exempt investors. The firm registered with the SEC as an investment advisor in April of 1994. A Canadian marketing presence was also established that year. Over the following six years, a number of institutional funds for North American clients were launched as emerging markets benchmarks were developed in the industry.
2000
In 2000, we established our third office in Singapore to enable on-the-ground research and trading of the Asian portion of our investment universe.
2002 & 2003
In 2002 and 2003 the investment team started to delve deeper into the stages of country development from "developing" to "developed", especially China and India, and the implications thereof, namely, the rise in the consumption of natural resources.
2005
In 2005, we extended our emerging markets expertise into the frontier markets by launching the Frontier Emerging Markets strategy.
2009
In 2009, we applied our knowledge of Closed-End Funds around the world to the development of a Global Closed-End Fund strategy, using a similar investment process as in our Emerging Markets Closed-End Fund strategy.
2014
In 2014, we expanded and diversified our Global CEF strategy via development of a Opportunistic Value CEF strategy, as well as a Tactical Income CEF strategy, with the objective of providing a high level of after-tax total returns for US taxable clients.
2019
In 2019, we launched an Emerging Markets REIT and International REIT strategy.
City of London Investment Management Company Limited (“CLIM”) is authorised and regulated for the conduct of investment business within the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is registered as an Investment Advisor with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registered in England and Wales No. 2851236. Registered Office: 77 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0AS, England.
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