Commercial Bank fund wins ‘Qatar Equity Fund of the Year’
06 April 2014
Al Waseela fund scoops industry award
Doha, Qatar: Commercial Bank’s Al Waseela fund has won the prestigious ‘Qatar Equity Fund of the Year’ award at the annual MENA Fund Manager Awards held in Dubai earlier this year.
Commercial Bank’s Al Waseela Fund (F-Class) is managed by EFG-Hermes and provides returns on a diversified portfolio of equities listed on the Qatar Exchange and GCC stock markets. Since its inception in April 2007, the Al Waseela Fund has gained 104.14%, achieving an impressive 30.8 % gain in 2013 and a further 9.49% gain this year up until 16 March 2014. Al Waseela Funds F-Class and Q-Class are paying a cash dividend of QAR 0.80 per unit to the Funds’ unit holders registered as of 17 March 2014.
Commercial Bank CEO, Mr Abdulla Saleh Al Raisi said: “Commercial Bank offers our customers a number of investment products to suit their personal requirements and appetite for risk. These range from mutual funds such as the Al Waseela Fund, to Asset Management, Bonds, Structured Products and International Share Trading. The Al Waseela Fund has performed exceptionally well for our customers and I congratulate EFG-Hermes on this achievement in their role as Fund Manager.
Sherif El Haddad, Fund Manager, EFG-Hermes said: “Oil and gas revenues will continue to keep the Qatari fiscal budget and current account in a comfortable surplus which in turn will fuel continued Government spending and economic growth. The Fund’s investments in Qatar listed stocks are focused on the theme of domestic infrastructure spending and implied credit growth required to fund these upcoming mega projects. Both the Al Waseela Funds, F-Class and Q-Class, are positioned to capture the upside prospects for Qatari listed stocks through superior stock selection which has been the driver of these Funds’ out performances.”
MENA Fund Manager (Mena FM) is a monthly publication focused exclusively on the rapidly developing Middle East and North African fund manager markets. The MENA Fund Manager awards are designed to recognise funds that have rewarded investors with strong and consistent performance, while pursuing innovative and market-leading strategies. The period of evaluation for the ‘Qatar Equity Fund of the Year’ was twelve months from October 2012 to October 2013 and judged predominantly on performance, but also taking into account qualitative and structural factors such as size of the fund, standard deviation/volatility and investment strategy pursued.