securities & investment company’s funds deliver strong 2007 performance
Securities & Investment Company (SICO), the Bahrain based regionally focused investment bank, today announced 2007 performance results for its GCC equity funds, which have outperformed market indices despite the regional uncertainties in 2007 and global turbulence caused by the credit crisis.
SICO’s funds include the Khaleej Equity Fund, a flagship fund, which invests principally in equity securities listed across the six GCC stock markets. The Fund, which was one of the first Gulf-based funds to be awarded an ‘A’-rating by Standard and Poor’s last year, saw a 43.9% return for the year.
The SICO Selected Securities Fund, the only Bahrain-dedicated mutual fund, invests principally in equity and debt securities listed, or which are expected to be listed, on the Bahrain Stock Exchange. The Fund delivered a 31.4% return for the year.
SICO’s Gulf Equity Fund, which invests in listed securities across the GCC stock markets with the exception of the Saudi Arabian stock market; delivered a 37.2% return over 12 months continuing its market beating performance since its inception in March 2006.
SICO’s newest fund, the SICO Arab Financial Fund, seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in financial sector equities in the GCC and MENA regions. Since its launch in August 2007, the Fund generated a 20.7% return to the end of December 2007.
SICO attributes this strong performance to its conservative asset allocation and bottom-up driven stock picking strategy. At the same time, SICO also adopts a top down approach to risk management by closely monitoring company, country and sector exposures. Portfolio managers focus on identifying companies that are fundamentally strong, and that are trading at less than their fair values.
Commenting on these results Mr. Anthony C. Malis, Chief Executive Officer, said: “SICO’s investment philosophy and strategies have enabled us to deliver strong out performance for our clients during 2007, a year which witnessed significant market turmoil due to the global credit crisis. We believe the GCC and MENA regions offer the potential for superior returns for investors during 2008, as we forecast in our recent GCC market overview research. The combination of our regional insight and the quality of our research is helping SICO to deliver consistent returns for investors, and these factors will continue to form the keystones to our investment approach with highly selective stock picking to deliver above average returns to investors.”
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.
As of December 31, 2007, SICO reported total assets of BD 104.832 million, with shareholders’ equity of BD 42.106 million. SICO’s shares have been listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange since May 2003. Securities & Investment Company was the first ‘closed’ company to list on the exchange.
