Gulfmena Alternative Investments (Gulfmena), a fund and asset manager specialised in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets, has been granted licence by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate as an asset management company from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
Reportedly, Gulfmena is expected to introduce its investment strategy through ‘Gulfmena Arab Opportunities Fund’ a macro-directional (market-directional) absolute return public equities fund that will be launched in the last quarter of 2009. It has been reported that the fund seeks to adopt Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) from the start.
Omar Bin Sulaiman, governor of DIFC said: The MENA region has long been a part of the emerging markets portfolio of major global funds, and, over the years, it has provided significant returns as the region’s economies revitalised themselves and grew rapidly. Now with the shift in the world’s economic centre of gravity to the East, speeded up by the financial crisis in the West, the MENA region offers even greater potential for economic growth and wealth creation. DIFC is ideally located as the gateway to not just the MENA, but also the Caspian and the Indian Subcontinent.
Haissam Arabi, founder, CEO and fund manager of Gulfmena, said: The changing landscape within the asset management industry and rapidly growing investor sophistication, especially following the credit crunch, places regulation and compliance at the heart of any successful investment strategy. The DFSA is the only regional authority today to offer a comprehensive, world-class regulatory environment which is essential for addressing today’s investor needs. It provides the ideal platform for Gulfmena to become the leading specialist alternative investment house in the region.
