Frankfurt: One of the few hedge funds focused on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has taken heavy exposure in Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, expecting that international investment in the region is about to pick up.
Khalid Abdul Majeed, managing partner of MENA Capital which runs the MENA Admiral Fund, said he has some 30 per cent in Qatar and the UAE, 25 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 18 per cent in Egypt.
"Our country allocations have been influenced by conversations we have had with the big banks who are reporting a significant increase in interest by international investors," he said on the sidelines of the CFA Institute's European Investment Conference in Frankfurt on Thursday.
"These are well-researched markets and can absorb large amounts of money unlike some of the smaller markets such as Tunisia or Lebanon. Also, they are cheap, so we are positioning there in the expectation they will rise."
The Admiral Fund was the first hedge fund to focus on MENA, launched in March 2006. Majeed said it is up 43 per cent since inception. The MSCI Arabian Markets index is down 54 per cent.
