Dubai Group relatively safe from US turmoil

Dubai: Dubai Group, an investment arm of Dubai Holding with interests in banking, insurance and private equity, said it has no significant exposure to the US financial crisis.

The group's real estate investments in the US have been "fairly conservative" and mainly limited to commercial property, a top company official told reporters in Dubai late on Wednesday.

"We are not immune, but we do not have significant exposure," CEO Thomas Volpe said, adding that the company's investment in American real estate have performed well.

US realty portfolio

From its US base, the group manages a portfolio of $2.5 billion. Its assets include the 495-room Chicago City Centre Hotel and Sports Club, the 544-unit Grand Apartment Homes in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and some office buildings in Boston.

Executive chairman Soud Ba'alawy said the group may look at buying more real estate, but would stay away from taking a stake in the crisis-hit investment banking industry.

Dubai Group plans to launch a $1 billion fund to invest in US equities in the first half of 2009.

It will be used for "traditional asset management activity," Volpe said.