Rijas Group plans fund to tap Gulf realty boom

Dubai: Pakistan's mid-size Rijas Group, whose interests span textiles, retail and investments, said yesterday it was launching a Dh100 million fund to invest in the Gulf region's property sector.

The Rijas Real Estate Opportunities Fund I will target annual returns of 30 per cent by investing in residential and commercial properties in the UAE and the wider Gulf region.

Life

The Cayman Islands registered fund has a life of three years and extendible by four one year periods.

Kashif Shahzad, a director of the Rijas Group told Gulf News the fund expected annual yields of 15 per cent from rental income and 20 per cent through capital appreciation in the foreseeable future.

He said 50 per cent of the fund will be invested in commercial and office property, 25 per cent in residential and the remaining 25 per cent in low-income housing.

"We expect high demand for commercial property over the next year or two," Shahzad said, adding the company had received commitments for more than half the fund.

Shahzad said three-year-old Rijas Investments, which had been investing privately-placed funds in the UAE's property market, achieved returns of 96.7 per cent in 2005 and expects 50 to 60 per cent this year.