Securities & Investment Company (SICO), the Bahrain based regionally focused investment bank, today announces the initial institutional closure of its latest fund, the SICO Arab Financial Fund (“SAF Fund”).
The SAF Fund is the latest innovative fund to be launched by SICO’s leading asset management team and will provide investors access to the rapidly growing financial sector in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. The financial sector is one of the direct beneficiaries of the region’s excess liquidity created by the strong growth in national current account balances and rising oil prices. The sector is set to reap the rewards of the continued forecast strong growth rates, mega-investment projects in both the real estate, as well as the oil and gas sectors, increased fee based income derived from maturing capital markets and the ever growing demand for Islamic finance products.
The fund will seek to capitalise on the potential growth of the finance sector by seeking long-term capital appreciation. It will invest principally in financial sector equity securities listed on the following stock markets: Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, in addition to other Arab markets.
A research-intensive investment process driven by SICO’s regional equity research team will enable the development of portfolios that comprise only fully understood and undervalued stocks. SICO’s proprietary research is supported by intensive company visits conducted by SICO’s own analysts to fully understand the investment potential of target equities. This research driven approach offers investors an investment advantage as regional markets are at early stage of development where information flows into the market are often irregular.
Anthony Mallis, Chief Executive Officer, SICO, said, “Our latest Fund gives our clients the opportunity to generate value from the rapidly growing MENA financial sector. The SAF Fund will be investing in the largest equity sector in the region with an excellent track record of performance and regulation, and which is set to grow in terms of profitability. Despite recent growth, the sector is still highly under penetrated. With the kind of market potential we forecast, we aim to increase the SAF Fund from today’s initial institutional closing size of $20 million to substantially much more in the future.”
SICO’s Asset Management unit manages over BD 177 million (US$ 471 million) and has one of the longest regional track records (since 1997), frequently outperforming regional indices. SICO manages three additional funds. The SAF Fund has a minimum investment requirement of US$100,000.
Securities & Investment Company is an investment bank offering a selective range of services, including asset management, brokerage, corporate finance and market-making, on a regional basis and with a particular emphasis on Bahrain. SICO was incorporated in Bahrain in 1995 and holds an investment-banking license from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
