Gulf Investment Corporation Kicks off Gulf Premier Fund Road show in GCC
GIC travel to Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Fund
Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) kicked off the Gulf Premier Fund (GPF) road show in the GCC this week in celebration of its fifth year anniversary.
The GPF is the first and largest GCC equity open-ended fund, designed to achieve long-term capital growth through investing in a diversified portfolio of listed equities, and has assets under management aggregating to USD 245 million to date. It is the flagship equity investment vehicle for GIC, which is one of the most powerful financial institutions in the region, managing over USD 9 billion in assets and a shareholders’ equity of USD 2 billion. The GCC Equities team uses a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches to first form an opinion of performing sectors through a thematic approach.
Established in April 2003, the Fund has generated an annualized return of 30%, 43.3% for 2007 and has delivered capital appreciation of 275.3% since inception through investments in securities listed in the GCC Equity markets. The fund also preformed 11.23% year to date.
Portfolio manager and Head of GCC Equities Division, Mr. Talal Al Tawari commented: “We are proud and pleased with the performance and the achievement of the fund. It managed to outperform the benchmark index over the period of one, two, and three years and that is proof of strength and stability."
GIC has lately introduced Gulf Islamic Fund which was launched in January 2008 to achieve long- term capital growth and non-benchmarked absolute returns through investments in a concentrated portfolio of Shariah-compliant equities. It has been seeded by GIC to the extent of US 10 million.
Senior vice president and Head of Business Development, Malek Al Ajeel said “We believe that the Gulf Premier Fund offers regional and international investors the opportunity to capitalize on the region’s flourishing sectors and, allows them to augment and diversify their portfolios.” He also added by saying “This road show will provide us with the opportunity to showcase the investment value in the Gulf Premier Fund to existing and potential investors.”
The road show will be an opportunity for GIC to strengthen relations and identify prospects. With 25 years experience of private equity investing under their belt, GIC is more than a household name in the fast growing domain of investment in the region. GIC has a successful track record as the principal investor in numerous major projects across a range of industry sectors within the GCC.
With a portfolio of more than 50 holdings within the GCC, GIC has a total equity participation of more than USD 1.5 billion and manages a variety of asset classes with a total exposure to the region of approximately USD 2.5 billion.
