Al Mal Capital targets $250m through equity fund

UAE-based investment company Al Mal Capital announced the initial offering period for their Al Mal Mena Equity Fund, targeting subscriptions worth $250 million (Dh917.5m) in the open-ended fund.

Al Mal Capital also plans to launch two other funds this year, a Shariah-compliant fund and a real estate fund.

Blair Look, Managing Director of Asset Management at Al Mal Capital, said the fund is registered in Bahrain and denominated in US dollars. "We will invest primarily in listed equities of companies based in the Middle East and North Africa. The subscription will be in US dollars, while the investment will be in local currencies in the Middle East to avoid exposure to changes in currency rates," he said.

He predicted that high net-worth investors and family businesses will be interested in the fund along with international institutional investors. "International investors are keen to enter the emerging markets and the Middle East is one of the fastest-growing regions. We offer them this opportunity, which will save time for them to enter the Middle East equity markets.

"The investment in regional equity markets will depend on fundamental analyses of the macro-economics in the long term. Prices of most stocks in the region are undervalued compared to fundamental results. This is an attractive situation for long-term investments," Look added.

Tariq Qaqish, Fund Manager at Al Mal Capital, said that the Al Mal Mena Equity fund has various advantages for investment, including the possibility of weekly liquidity of the investment. Moreover, there will be no performance fees.

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