Invest AD said yesterday it had succeeded in attracting more than $100 million (Dh367m) in foreign capital from institutional investors into the UAE just one month after it created a fund to bring in global investments.
Company officials said the investments in such a short period of time illustrated what they described as the strong world confidence in the UAE economy.
The government-owned company, previously the Abu Dhabi Investment Company (Adic), said its UAE Equities Fund, one of four funds it created this year for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region had lured in the investments.
"Invest AD has attracted more than $100 million to its newly launched UAE Equities Fund from institutional investors, reflecting rising interest in Mena markets," Invest AD Chief Executive Officer Nazem Fawwaz Al Kudsi said in a statement.
"International investment portfolios are often seriously under-weighted in this region. This is usually not a matter of strategy, but a result of a lack of good research and limited access to the market.
"Our funds can help to redress that imbalance," said Al Kudsi. Invest AD launched the fund last month to invest in the UAE stock markets, when it adopted a new name to reflect its fast-growing role as a manager of third-party money. It announced the creation of three other funds to attract global capital into the region – the GCC Equities Fund, Mena Fund and an Emerging Africa Fund.
"The commitments to the UAE fund come at a time of rising interest in stock markets of the UAE and other Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries," said Mohammed Salih Al Hashemi, Head of Investment Management at Invest AD.
"UAE stocks are undervalued, and international and local investors see opportunity," Al Hashemi added.
He said UAE stocks are trading at about 7.8 times earnings, compared to about 14.5 times for emerging markets, and an average 17.5 times for global stocks.
They are also trading at a slight discount to book value, while emerging market and global stocks are on average priced at more than 1.5 times of book value.
Announcing the company's new brand last month, Kudsi said Invest AD would capitalise on an improvement in the investment climate in Mena and on global market changes following the financial crisis to attract world capital to the region in various sectors, including private equity, real estate and banking.
He said the Gulf and other Arab nations have often been regarded purely as a source of capital although the region is one of the most attractive capital destinations in the world.
"In fact, phenomenal investment opportunity can be found here. Mena should increasingly become a destination for capital to be deployed by astute fund managers. In essence, our company embodies that vision," said the CEO of Invest AD.
Al Kudsi added the company, the region's oldest public investment firm, would focus on institutional investors worldwide.
Invest AD is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Council. The company was set up in 1977 by a decree of late President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
After operating for three decades as an investment arm of Abu Dhabi Government, the company recently expanded its activities by offering investment opportunities to institutions, including companies, pension funds, wealth managers, banks, insurance companies, investment platforms and other governments.
Its activities cover fund management (asset management, private equity, infrastructure and real estate), brokerage, investment banking, and management of proprietary assets on behalf of Abu Dhabi Government.
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