Masraf Al Rayan (MAR), a Qatar-based Islamic bank, has launched Shari'a-compliant Al Rayan GCC Fund and appointed its subsidiary Al Rayan Investment, an investment and financial advisory arm, as the fund manager with a mandate to manage up to $1.1bn.
The Shari’a-compliant value fund will take a medium to long-term perspective, investing in GCC listed equities as well as fixed-income and money-market instruments.
Hussain Ali Al Abdulla, chairman and managing director of Masraf Al Rayan, said: “We believe the time is ripe to launch a fund to tap into the region’s enormous potential, especially as valuations remain very attractive. We expect the fund’s activist investment philosophy will be well received by investors within the GCC and globally.”
Adel Mustafawi, CEO of Masraf Al Rayan, said: “In Al Rayan Investment we have selected a fund manager with a world-class, multi-national team of experienced professionals with rich local and global expertise. We are extremely optimistic on the future of the GCC economies and have a clear strategy to invest in the region; we will therefore inject significant seed capital to the fund.”
Abdulaziz Al Muftah, director of Al Rayan Investment, said: “We are delighted at having been awarded this exciting mandate. We continue to add to Al Rayan Investment’s strengths and are steadily building one of the region’s leading investment and financial advisory houses – we are grateful that our hard work and dedication is being increasingly recognized by our customers. Our commitment to clients remains unparalleled and we look forward to delivering the best for investors of the GCC fund.”