Emirates NBD Asset Management, the asset management arm of Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, announced that its range of funds, including global fund of funds, MENA equity funds and fixed income funds, have demonstrated robust performance in the first quarter of 2012, despite regional and global concerns.
“Emirates NBD Asset Management manages a range of products delivering investment growth for our customers,” said Deon Vernooy, Senior Executive Officer, Emirates NBD Asset Management. “As a result of the long-term investment strategy adopted by our experienced fund management team, our funds have managed to weather difficult market conditions to yield satisfactory results. We will continue to work towards delivering sustained returns for our customers.”
Among the Managed global fund of funds, Emirates Active Managed Fund outperformed the benchmark by 1.8 per cent to return 9.8 per cent In addition, the Emirates Balanced Managed Fund attracted investor interest registering 2.0 per cent outperformance against the benchmark to return 8.1 per cent, while the Emirates Conservative Fund outperformed its benchmark by 1.1 per cent, gaining 4.5 per cent.
In the MENA Equity funds category, the Emirates MENA Opportunities Fund was a clear winner, with 5.1 per cent outperformance against its benchmark in the first quarter, to return 8.2 per cent. In Q1 2012, the Emirates MENA Top Companies Fund and Emirates MENA High Income Fund delivered 9.3 per cent and 8.1 per cent, respectively.
“March was a very strong month for the equity funds, despite a pullback in emerging markets. Encouragingly, the biggest gains were witnessed in the region’s largest market, Saudi Arabia, which was buoyed by resurgent volumes and prices,” said Vernooy.
Among the fixed income funds, the Emirates Mena Fixed Income Fund returned 3.7 per cent; a 0.8 per cent outperformance against the benchmark, the Emirates Global Sukuk Fund returned 2.9 per cent, also beating its benchmark, while the Islamic Money Market Fund outperformed its benchmark by 0.1 per cent to yield 0.3 per cent.
“Credit markets have had a strong run so far this year. Despite some weakness in global PMI data and fears around a Chinese “hard-landing,” credit spreads and other risk assets continued to rally in March,” added Vernooy. “With some pullback in regional geo-political rhetoric, the MENA Fixed Income and Sukuk markets have performed generally in line with other credit markets.”
Emirates NBD Asset Management feels that valuations in the MENA Fixed Income and Sukuk space continue to be very attractive, both on a relative and absolute basis.
The Emirates Active Managed Fund: The Emirates Active Managed Fund is a US Dollar-denominated, open-ended fund, domiciled in Jersey. The Fund offers investors an opportunity to access a range of asset classes such as equity, fixed income, money market, real estate and alternative investment strategies and will invest predominantly on a fund of funds basis. The fund reported YTD (year-to-date) performance of 9.8 per cent in the first quarter, outperforming its benchmark by 1.8 per cent.
The Emirates Balanced Managed Fund: The Portfolio may invest globally through collective investment schemes in a range of asset classes including cash/near cash, fixed income, equity, property and alternative strategy funds, with the aim of providing long-term capital growth through a balanced investment strategy. The fund put up a strong show, with 8.1 per cent performance in the first quarter, which translated into a 2.0 per cent outperformance.
The Emirates Conservative Fund: The Emirates Conservative Managed Fund is a US Dollar-denominated, open-ended fund, domiciled in Jersey. The Fund offers investors an opportunity to access a range of asset classes across equity, fixed income, money market, real estate and alternative investment strategies and will invest predominantly on a fund of funds basis. In the first quarter, it reported a performance of 4.5 per cent, which meant 1.1 per cent outperformance against the benchmark.
The Emirates MENA Top Companies Fund: The MENA Top Companies Fund is an investment fund that aims to achieve medium to long-term capital growth through investments in a portfolio of GCC and MENA equity offerings. The Fund will use an active management style and take advantage of price distortions and specific opportunities that display potential for strong gains. The fund displayed MTD performance of 2.5 per cent, outperforming 4 per cent. First quarter performance stood at 9.3 per cent.
The Emirates MENA High Income Fund: The Emirates MENA High Income Fund is an open-ended fund that aims to invest predominantly in equity securities in the GCC and MENA regions, which in the opinion of the Manager, offer a high dividend yield as well as potential for capital growth. The Fund may also invest in other opportunities that might be appropriate from time to time including, but not limited to, fixed income instruments, deposits and real estate. The fund reported a MTD performance of 2.3 per cent, which translated into 0.4 per cent outperformance over its benchmark. First quarter performance stood at 8.1 per cent.
The Emirates MENA Opportunities Fund: The Emirates MENA Opportunities Limited is a Shari’a compliant investment fund that aims to achieve long-term capital growth through investment in assets which, in the opinion of the manager, display strong growth potential – mainly equities and real estate – predominantly in the GCC and MENA regions. The MTD performance for March was 1.9 per cent, outperforming its benchmark by 0.9 per cent. In the first quarter, the fund performance was 8.2 per cent, with a strong outperformance of 5.1 per cent.
The Emirates Mena Fixed Income Fund: The Emirates MENA Fixed Income Fund is a US Dollar-denominated, open-ended fund, which aims to achieve a high level of income as well as capital growth, predominantly through a diversified portfolio of MENA debt securities of varying maturities along with cash and other ancillary instruments. The fund displayed MTD performance of 1.1 per cent in March, bringing the YTD (year-to-date) performance to 3.7 per cent, registering a 0.8 per cent outperformance.
The Emirates Global Sukuk Fund: The Emirates Global Sukuk Fund is a US Dollar-denominated Shari’a compliant open-ended fund, which seeks to achieve a high income as well as capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of sukuks, issued by companies locally and globally. The fund reported strong MTD performance of 0.9 per cent, with a solid YTD performance of 2.9 per cent.
The Emirates Islamic Money Market Fund: The Emirates Islamic Money Market is a Shari’a compliant investment that aims to achieve a higher profit return than traditional Shari’a compliant bank deposits of similar liquidity. The Fund will primarily invest in diversified portfolio of Shari’a compliant money market instruments including collectives investing in such instruments. The MTD performance for March was 0.1 per cent, bringing YTD performance to 0.3 per cent, which translates into a 0.1 per cent outperformance over the benchmark.
Please note that all returns stated are for the respective institutional Share Classes for the funds, and are as of Q1, bid to bid, in USD terms, with net income reinvested.
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