Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets Trust (AWEM) has ended the 16-month investment company listing drought after scraping on to the UK stock market following an initial public offering (IPO) that garnered just £30.5m.

While the total falls well short of the targeted £100m – a sign of poor investor sentiment after the 2022 bear market – the investment trust will hope to emulate the example of stablemate Ashoka India Equity (AIE ). Also run by fund manager Prashant Khemka, it raised £46m out of a targeted £220m in 2018 but has grown to nearly £200m since. Trading in AWEM shares will start on Wednesday.

Martin Shenfield, the trust’s chair, said: ‘The investment companies IPO market has been dormant since late 2021... we are pleased to introduce the first listed equities-focused investment trust in almost five years to the premium segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

‘The board looks forward to working constructively with the WhiteOak team to deliver returns to our shareholders and materially scale the company in due course.’

Khemka was grateful for shareholder support and reiterated the investment opportunity. ‘Emerging markets currently provide a compelling entry point for an actively managed equities strategy, with generally lower inflation, lower debt levels and higher growth rates versus developed markets,’ he said.

Speaking to Citywire recently, Khemka was not fazed by the prospect of falling short of the IPO target, saying: ‘AIE fell short and it has more than quadrupled in size at a time when all other trusts have shrunk. We want to start the performance clock ticking.’

Based in Singapore, Khemka and his team will focus on small and medium-sized companies, avoiding those that are government-owned, resulting in a portfolio almost 10% underweight China versus its MSCI EM index benchmark.

Given its closed-end structure, the trust, like Ashoka India, will be permitted to hold up to 10% in private companies, which Khemka said would largely be those expected to float in less than a year.

AWEM will join the global emerging markets sector alongside Templeton Emerging Market (TEM ), BlackRock Frontiers (BRFI ) and JPMorgan Global Emerging Markets Income (JEMI ).

The successful listing gets the newly formed broker Ellora Partners off to a good start after it was spun off from Alvarium, the manager of Home Reit (HOME ) whose shares have been suspended for nearly five months as its accounts and valuations are reviewed.

The only other investment company to attempt to list this year is AT85 Global Mid-Market Infrastructure Income (AT85), which extended its offer timetable to the end of May following turbulent market conditions. The previous investment company to float was Thomas Lloyd Energy Impact (TLEI ) in December 2021. Its shares were suspended this week due to ‘material uncertainty’ over the valuation of a solar park construction in India.