Business | Banking
Shuaa plans new fund to tap Arab and Asian markets
Shuaa Capital, the UAE's top investment bank, plans to launch a first-of-a-kind Arab-Asia fund-of-funds this month to tap into the economic boom in the two regions, a company official said.
- By Arif Sharif, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 September 1, 2006
Dubai: Shuaa Capital, the UAE's top investment bank, plans to launch a first-of-a-kind Arab-Asia fund-of-funds this month to tap into the economic boom in the two regions, a company official said.
Haissam Arabi, managing director of Shuaa Asset Management, told Gulf News the fund will be a joint venture and co-managed with British asset manager Forsyth Partners.
It will offer investors a single fund exposure to two of the fastest growing regions in the world and typically target returns of between 12 and 15 per cent.
Arabi said Shuaa will also launch an Arab Islamic Gateway Fund this month, a Sharia compliant variant of its flagship Arab Gateway Fund, with the aim of replicating the performance of that fund.
Shuaa expects to raise $50-$70 million through the two new open-ended funds, that will add to the nearly $1 billion in assets that it manages through its 13 existing funds.
"The Arab world is emerging as an economic block and you have Asia … Those two regions will be the fastest growing regions in the world over the next 5 to 10 years," Arabi said.
"There is an integration now [taking place between the two regions] which is still not very obvious and there is no single product in the world that can offer investors those two regions combined."
Forsyth Partners, which recently moved its global headquarters to the Dubai International Financial Centre from London, is a provider of fund-of-funds solutions in different geographies and assets, including equities, debt, property, hedge funds and commodities. It manages about $3.6 billion.
Arabi said the integration of the Arab world with Asia will unfold over the next five to 10 years as surging economic growth in Asia will increase its dependence on Arab oil.
Increasing oil revenues in the Arab world will increase trading ties with Asia and boost investment flows from the Arab countries into Asia, he said.
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