SEDCO and Milltrust launch Saudi UCITS fund 08 July 2016Riyadh Reporter: Stephanie Palmer
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Milltrust International, an asset manager focused on emerging markets, has appointed SEDCO Capital to manage a new UCITS Middle East and North Africa fund.
SEDCO, an asset manager based in Saudi Arabia, will manage the Milltrust SEDCO MENA Fund, which aims to achieve long-term returns for international institutional investors.
The fund will invest in companies in the MENA region through a portfolio of equity securities under the UCITS IV framework, and will offer daily liquidity.
SEDCO Capital is the first Saudi-based asset manager to manage both MENA and Saudi equities on the UCITS platform, with the fund managed by a specialist MENA liquidity entity team.
According to Millltrust, the appointment is in line with Saudi Arabia’a plans to diversify its economy in order to improve the business environment, create opportunities and increase direct investment.
The Saudi Capital Markets Authority has changed rules for foreign investment in order to open the capital market, and Saudi Arabia is now included in the MSCI Emerging Market Index.
Yazan Abdeen, lead fund manager and head of MENA capital markets at SEDCO Capital, said: “Saudi Arabia, together with all other MENA markets, provides a perfect optimiser for an emerging market allocation as they all provide favourable demographics, and growth potential in a protected currency environment. Not many other emerging economies can claim such positioning.”
Simon Hopkins, CEO of Milltrust International Group, added: “The launch of this fund broadens our offering to clients, providing access to a portfolio with dedicated MENA equities exposure, and complements our award-winning global emerging markets investment solutions. We believe this partnership will create compelling investment opportunities across an extremely diversified and dynamic stock market universe.”
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