Daman fund posts 4.26% returns

Daman Investments yesterday said its Daman Speculator Fund posted positive total returns of 4.26 per cent in 2008 and declared its second dividend since inception.

The Dubai-based investment management company announced the December performance of three of its funds: Daman Speculator Fund, Daman Second Emirates Fund, and Daman Islamic Fund.

The Daman Speculator Fund has declared Dh0.50 per unit as dividend, and the annualised dividend yield for 2008 stands at 3.50 per cent, Daman said. Since inception, the fund has distributed total dividends of Dh1.50 per unit.

The fund closed December at an ex-dividend Net Asset Value (NAV) of Dh102.76 per unit, a month to date decline of 1.15 per cent. Since its inception in August 2008, the Daman Speculator fund has outperformed the index month on month.

During 2008, the fund ended on a positive note with total returns of 4.26 per cent as against a broader market decline of over 57 per cent.

Daman Chief Executive Shehab Gargash said in a statement: "Although the market situation is still volatile, we believe that the Speculator Fund performance indicates that it is a good time to go back into the market for early opportunities. The fund is an opportunistic fund exactly designed for turbulent times like these."

The Daman Second Emirates Fund, a UAE-registered open-ended fund regulated by the UAE Central Bank and focused on the UAE equity markets, closed December at an NAV of Dh43.39 per unit.

The Fund recorded a decline of 18 per cent in December as against the NBAD General Index drop of 14.78 per cent.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.