Even relative safe havens such as the GCC countries have suffered from turbulence in the wider Middle East and North Africa, despite the region’s potential.
Tag : mena
PE executives discussed issues facing the industry globally and in the Middle East at a conference in Qatar last week.
Asset managers in the Middle East and North Africa are mulling expanding both regionally and further afield, according to a recent survey.
Today’s 'day of rage' in Saudi Arabia could be the catalyst for a further downward spiral in Middle East and North Africa markets or mark a turnaround point after recent falls, argue fund managers.
ING Investment ManagementÆs Dubai-based team plans to launch a frontier-market product for global investors that will include both equity and debt.
Financial prospects are turning more positive in the Gulf, but investors still face significant challenges, says Fadi Al Said of ING Investment Management in Dubai.
The highly concentrated portfolio will have 25 to 30 stocks and will have a strong bias towards the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The fund will target high-net-worth individuals across Asia-Pacific.
The Baring Mena Fund will invest in about 40 to 60 stocks and will be benchmarked against the MSCI Arabian Markets ex-Saudi Arabia index.
Fund raising is expected to generate $1.5 billion in assets. Abu DhabiÆs International Petroleum Investment Company will serve as a cornerstone investor with an initial $300 million.
ING Investment Management will launch its first Mena equities fund in the third quarter of 2008 and expects more than half of its commitments to come from global institutional investors.
The fundÆs sub-adviser, Algebra Capital, says the Middle East and North Africa region is the new Bric in terms of investment performance potential.