By Satish Kanady
DOHA: Two Qatar-based banks yesterday announced their respective decisions to launch three separate investments funds. Leading Islamic lender Masraf Al Rayan announced that its Board of Directors approved the setting up of two investment funds, subject to approval by the official authorities.
Qatar’s leading investment bank and prominent Islamic financial institution QInvest announced that it is launching a Shariah-compliant European Equities fund in partnership with Pioneer investments. Pioneer Investments is a leading global asset management firm with over $246bn in Assets under Management (AuM). Pioneer will manage the fund and act as sub advisor.
Masraf Al Rayan’s first fund is an exchange traded fund (ETF) that will be the largest in the market, trading Shariah-compliant stocks at Qatar Exchange wherein tracking Al Rayan Islamic Index. Second, is a Shariah-compliant sukuk trading fund (income generating fund), for investment in fixed income markets with target yield exceeding earnings from deposit accounts and shall be distributed annually to investors. Al Rayan investment (ARI) will manage both funds.
The QInvest fund will focus on investing in pan-European blue-chip, mid and large-cap stocks. It will be actively managed by the specialist European Equity team at Pioneer Investments, with Andrew Arbuthnot as the Portfolio Manager.
The team has been managing European Equity assets for 15 years based on a consistently applied research-driven philosophy and process. The fund’s investment strategy will be similar to the Pioneer European Concentrated Equity Strategy, which currently has in the region of $1.3bn under management.
Dr Ataf Ahmed, Head of Asset Management at QInvest, said, “The launch of this fund broadens our offering to clients, providing access to a portfolio with dedicated pan-European exposure. We believe that the current macroeconomic environment in Europe will create some compelling investment opportunities over the mid-term. We are very excited by this partnership and look forward to working with the investment team at Pioneer Investments.”
Neal Jenkins, Head of the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa region at Pioneer Investments, said: “Around the world, there is a growing demand for shariah-compliant European-focused products. This is being driven by not just Islamic investors looking to increase their exposure to European stocks, but also by conventional investors looking to diversify their portfolios, many of whom are being drawn to the more ethical investing principles of Islamic finance. We are pleased our successful track record in managing European equity portfolios was able to attract such a strong partner as QInvest and we look forward to working together with them with the aim of capturing this growing global demand”.
Tamim Hamad Al Kawari, Chief Executive Officer of QInvest said, “QInvest has focused on expanding the capabilities of QInvest Asset Management and in particular QMAP, the QInvest Managed Account Platform. The addition of this fund further expands the product offering available on our platform to potential equity investors, and offers clients a portfolio with a dedicated pan-European exposure”.
The Peninsula
