MICE Industry Overview

The MICE (“Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions“) industry is a central part of business-related tourism and is forecasted to achieve a total market size of USD1.4tn by 2025. In 2018, an estimated 32,000 exhibitions were organised attracting over 303 million visitors. However, despite the size and growth of the industry there are no dedicated funds or ETFs.

COVID-19 has negatively impacted the MICE industry, including exhibition organisers, venues and travel operators since the start of the pandemic. MICE players with healthy balance sheets remain resilient and well positioned to capitalise on the post-pandemic recovery in travel and business events.

The MICE industry is expected to experience significant growth from the easing of covid restrictions and a pent up demand for exhibitions and events. The Mice Fund is positioned to profit from this resurgence in the MICE industry.

Arena MICE Equity Fund Terms

• Investment Strategy: Investment in a dedicated portfolio of both MICE pure-play and related publicly listed companies.
• Return Objective: Achieve 12% returns over the medium term
• Fund Type: Singapore Variable Capital Company (VCC)
• Launch Date: 4Q 2021
• Initial Fund Size: USD 50 million
• Minimum Investment: USD 500,000
• Redemption/ Subscription: Bi-weekly
• Fund Manager: Abacus Capital (S) Pte Ltd
• Advisors: Bjoern Kempe, Simon Foster, David Audrain

Investment Highlights

• Opportunity to gain exposure to the MICE Industry: The fund offers a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the recovery and growth of the MICE Industry as there are no dedicated indices, ETFs or funds for this sector.
• Portfolio with attractive value: The fund will consist of publicly listed MICE and MICE-related stocks listed across major global stock exchanges, which will facilitate a smooth entry and exit of the portfolio. COVID-19 has heavily impacted exhibition organisers, venues, and travel operators resulting in depressed share prices of the listed companies in the industry.
• Increased Market Share post-COVID: Singapore Variable Capital Company (VCC)The negative impact of the pandemic on the industry has led to cash flow shortages and capital needs for most of the organisers, creating a window of opportunity for consolidation and growth. Larger and more resilient companies with strong balance sheets, which Arena will target for investment, are now able to increase their market share globally.
• Experienced investment and management team: The Fund will be led by a team of CEOs and business leaders in the MICE industry, with each individual having over 20 years of experience running companies with global operations.