SEDCO Capital launches 30m Gulf equities fund

(MENAFN- Arab News) Saudi Arabia-based SEDCO Capital has become the first Shariah-compliant asset manager in the world to become a signatory to the United Nations' Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).

The six principles are underpinned by a belief that environmental social and corporate governance (ESG) issues affect investment performance and that incorporating this code into portfolio management can better align investors with the interests of society.

This announcement comes a year after SEDCO Capital launched the first ever Shariah-compliant funds managed according to ESG principles and also makes the asset manager the first UN PRI signatory from Saudi Arabia.

SEDCO Capital CEO Hasan Al-Jabri said: 'We are excited about launching our in-house management capabilities in MENA equities as our team that has a long track record of investing across MENA markets with a solid performance history. Our decision to launch this product could not be more timely with the increased interest in MENA markets generally and GCC markets particularly with all the headline news that is positioning these markets at the global front of attractive investments. This interest is driven by growth in the underlying economies and strength in their local currencies what are mainly pegged to the dollar.'

SEDCO Capital which runs one of the world's largest ranges of Shariah-compliant funds also announced the launch of its new MENA fund which for the first time will be managed by its own in-house investment team. Located in Luxembourg SEDCO Capital's GCC Equity Fund will sit alongside its 13 other funds which span geographies and asset classes including public equity REITs public equity and income. SEDCO Capital's other asset classes include international and local real estate private equity commodities and timber.

The fund totaling $30 million at launch will invest in MENA equities. Yazan Abdeen previously of ING Investment Management will be lead manager on the fund.