Features - Expert Comment

Stand and deliver
19 Jan 2012
Expert Comment, Features, Interviews, Investment, investors
Much has been made of local investors’ reluctance to invest in local fund managers. Mena FM asks investors why they look past the region and what local managers can do to change their minds
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The best is yet to come
9 Jan 2012
Expert Comment, Features, Lebanon
With strong banking and private equity sectors, Lebanon’s niche markets are good bets for long-term investment. But does Lebanon have what it takes to be Mena’s next major finance hub?
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Inflection point
3 Jan 2012
Arab Spring, Expert Comment, Features, Invesco
The Arab Spring has the potential to reshape the Mena fund industry – but will this change be for the better? A visit to Egypt suggests there will be more to the recovery than the expansion of the local financial industry
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Tailor-made solutions
12 Dec 2011
discretionary portfolio management, Expert Comment, Features
Discretionary portfolios now represent around two thirds of all assets under management. This growth is good news for the industry, but with Mena investors demanding much more from their asset managers, does this expansion in the client base come at a price?
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Solid as Iraq
7 Nov 2011
Expert Comment, Features, Iraq
After decades of unrest, Iraq suddenly represents an exciting investment prospect for fund managers across the world. Three upcoming telecoms IPOs look set to bolster the country’s $2-3bn stock exchange as the opportunities just keep on coming
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Ready for the aftershocks?
31 Oct 2011
Expert Comment, Features, Libya
Libya’s investment potential has stalled in 2011 as the country fought to resolve a drawn-out civil war. But as the sun sets on the old regime, there are opportunities amid the rubble for both fund managers and investors alike
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Value in volatility
24 Oct 2011
Expert Comment, Features, Samena Capital, Special Situations
Current unrest in the Mena region is driving new opportunities in cross-border investment and a ave of special situations funds are ready to take advantage of market dislocations with a long-term view
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Bridging the Gulf
19 Sep 2011
DFSA, Expert Comment, Features, Islamic Finance, Simon Gray, sukuk
Islamic finance has soared in popularity in the GCC and this growth looks set to continue as even non-Muslims begin to see the long-term benefits of Shariah compliance
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The shape of things to come
15 Sep 2011
Expert Comment, Features, Insight Discovery, Nigel Sillitoe, Regulations, UAE
The UAE’s ubiquitous new fund regulations have been widely discussed behind closed doors, but it’s hard to tell exactly what effect they will have on the local fund industry and the wider GCC
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It’s brighter than you think
8 Sep 2011
Bahrain, Bahrain Economic Development Board, Boyd Winton, Expert Comment, Features
Bahrain's fund industry has taken a beating in 2011, following a period of serious civil unrest. However, the country's Economic Development Board insists that its fundamentals are strong enough to survive the crisis.
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High risk, high return
22 Aug 2011
Amrith Mukkamala, commodities, Expert Comment, Features, GCC, KMEFIC
Commodities represent an attractive opportunity for investors but GCC-based commodity producers can offer much more than the usual basket of products. The time has come for global investors to reconsider the high-risk, high-return profiles of the GCC’s commodity producers
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Six more months
16 Aug 2011
Expert Comment, Features, MSCI, Qatar, UAE
For more than a year the financial centres of Qatar and the UAE have been implementing strategic changes in the hope of winning MSCI’s coveted emerging market status. But the decision has now been held back until December prompting mixed feelings on what this means for Mena
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