Global Investment House "Global" announced today that Mrs. Maha Al-Ghunaim Chairperson and Managing Director has received “The World Islamic Funds Excellence Award for 2007” for her contributions to the development of Islamic investment instruments in the region.
Mrs. Najah Al-Aali, General Manager of Global Bahrain, received the award last Sunday on behalf of AlGhunaim during the 3rd Annual World Islamic Funds & Capital Markets Conference from Mr. Khaled Al- Hamed, Executive Director- Banking Supervision at Central Bank of Bahrain, and Mr. Noor Abdi, the Managing Partner- Audit and Assurance Business Services at Ernest & Young Middle East.
The conference was held at the Bahrain International Race arena in the Bahraini capital of Manama.
The award is a recognition of AlGhunaim’s contributions as a "leading individual" in the Funds world and the development of an array of Investment Funds in the investment industry.
She was nominated by the Central Bank of Bahrain and Ernst & Young “for her contribution to the development of the Funds industry and markets through significant achievements or initiatives, such as leadership, product innovation, or commercial success,” the conference said in a letter.
Al-Ghunaim expressed her sincere gratitude and thanked both financial institutions for selecting her for this award. She also thanked Global employees for their great efforts and dedication to excel in the field of Islamic Investment as well as traditional investment.
“I would like to thank the organizers of this prestigious prize, which represents and recognizes the company's efforts towards the development of the various investment funds, particularly Islamic funds, which will push us to be even more creative with investments products in the future," said Al-Ghunaim.
It is worth mentioning that Global currently manages 35 investment funds, with at least eight Islamic funds among them, some have exceeded market indices.
During the current quarter, Global launched two Islamic funds; Global GCC Islamic Fund and Global Islamic Fund of Funds which invests in local and international funds and that comply with the Islamic Shari’a principals.
Further more, the Al Durra Islamic Fund was selected in 2005 as "The Best Islamic Fund in Kuwait" in a comparative study. The company also received two awards in 2005 and 2006 due to its Islamic funds’ unique investment strategies and real estate investment structure.
In addition to its active role in investment Funds, Global augmented the regional Islamic capital markets when it launched last September the first GCC Islamic index which reflects the performance of listed Shari’a compliant GCC companies.
It is worth noting, that Forbes Magazine, chose Al-Ghunaim among this year’s “Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World”, while in early 2006, Forbes Arabia ranked her “Second among the Top 50 Arabian Women”. Last year, Newsweek Arabia chose her as “One of the most influential people in the Middle East”. More recently, AlGhunaim received two official awards from the Italian Government and the Rimini Chamber of Commerce.
Global has won “Best Equity House in Kuwait” award from the reputable Euromoney magazine for the second year in a row, in addition to “Best Real Estate Company” in 2005. The company also received the "Deal of the Year" award from The Banker magazine in February 2006.
About Global Investment House “Global”
Global Investment House “Global” is a full-fledged investment company incorporated in 1998, and falls under the regulation of the Central Bank of Kuwait. Its underlying foundation is to meet the high expectations of local and international clients, and to enhance the investment service industry and the capital market in Kuwait and the region. Today, Global stock lists on the Kuwait, Bahrain, and Dubai Stock Exchanges, with branches and affiliates in Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi (UAE), Jordan, Qatar, and Sudan. Global plays an important role in promoting investment opportunities in the Arabian Gulf Peninsula to investors through expert financial engineering, in-depth research and reports to advance the capital market in the region. Thus, Global’s achievements have been recognized on local, regional, and international levels. The company’s current assets under management reached KD2.130 billion (USD7.355 billion) as of 31 March 2007.
