Investec Asset Management, part of South African-based banking group Investec, said it is not rushing to buy Zimbabwe-related assets until the political outlook of the crisis-ridden nation clarifies following its recent national elections. Final official results showed that President Robert Mugabe’s governing party has lost its majority in the country’s parliament. Although this puts pressure on Mr Mugabe to resign and investors are understandably keen to snap up cheap assets, it makes sense to wait, Roelof Horne, portfolio manager of Investec Africa Funds, said in a report. “So instead of hopping onto the vulture-bandwagon, we are quite satisfied to sit back for the moment, wait for change, and miss the first wild scramble that will inevitably follow positive political change,” he said. Investec, also parent of Investec Private Bank, is one of a number of financial institutions that invest in African assets. African-themed funds have been a noted investment trend in the last few years, part of the growing interest in so-called “frontier markets”, seen as becoming the next wave of fast-growing nations. However, Zimbabwe has been off-limits to funds. Mr Mugabe’s rule, widely seen as disastrous because of state economic planning, price controls, state enforced land seizures and runaway inflation, has deterred external investors. “As far as investments go, Zimbabwe is widely touted as a recovery play - the recovery which is expected once economic normality returns to the country. It is thus not surprising that Zimbabwe-exposure stocks have started rallying in the last two days as the opposition party started claiming a landslide victory - investors are clearly optimistic that a change of government might, just might be on the cards,” Mr Horne said. At present, Investec’s funds own no stocks on Zimbabwe’s ZSE exchange as they are highly illiquid and transaction costs are prohibitive. “The country has been starved of investment (internal and external) for the last eight years. The economy will take time and capital to rebuild. We would welcome the opportunity to invest in a new Zimbabwe post-Mugabe. We will do so methodically, following our usual systematic analytical approach, searching for good companies, with good management and prospects, at a good price. There will be great opportunities for investment gains, and we will be there,” the note added.