Credit Suisse has launched Credit Suisse SICAV One Equity Middle East and North Africa Fund (MENA Fund), an actively managed open ended fund providing investors with access to MENA region – reported AME Info. Credit Suisse has said that the MENA Fund targets both institutional and retail investors and is one of the few UCITS III compliant funds in the region.
Benchmarked against the MSCI Arabia Ex Saudi Arabia (Domestic) Index, the fund is expected to provide investors with active management, daily liquidity and exposure to a blended investment style including value and growth. The fund will be managed by Credit Suisse’s Portfolio team in Dubai and will be led by Farid Samji, who has over 11 years of asset management experience, primarily in the Middle East and North Africa region, reported the newspaper.
Farid Samji, portfolio manager of Asset Management business at Credit Suisse, said: We believe the Middle East offers investors a broad range of investment opportunities with a region endowed with vast natural resources and a favourable demographic profile. On-going structural reforms, regulatory and economic liberalisation are providing a strong impetus for capital growth. Our long standing presence on the ground leaves us well placed to make investment decisions.
Daniel Brupbacher, head of the Multi Asset Class Solutions, in Credit Suisse’s Asset Management business, said: With stock markets opening up to foreign investments, improvements in corporate governance combined with increased transparency, the MENA region is a compelling growth story. The launch also fits with the Bank’s strategy of bringing the best products to our clients and building strategic relationships.
Bassam Yammine, co-CEO of the MENA region and head of Investment Banking and Asset Management in the region, Credit Suisse, commented: The launch of this fund is further testament to our commitment to expanding our MENA product offering to international and local clients. Credit Suisse is uniquely well positioned to launch this fund having been on the ground in the region for more than 40 years.
