EFG Hermes chooses Ireland for first Ucits funds

Ireland pinEFG Hermes has launched two Ireland-domiciled Ucits funds in a bid to expand its product range and appeal to European investors.

The EFG Hermes MENA Equity Fund is a Ucits version of the firm’s long-running Middle East and Developing Africa fund, which is domiciled in Bermuda and has been running since 1999.

The EFG Hermes Frontier Equity Fund is the first frontier equity product from the firm and will invest in 15-25 holdings of companies in south and east Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

Both funds are managed in Dubai with HSBC as custodian.

“This is our first entry into frontier markets and also offers a vehicle to accommodate a large pool of European assets,” says Amr Seif, head of asset management.

A number of Middle Eastern asset managers including Mashreq Capital and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) have launched Ucits funds in recent years in an attempt to gain inflows from Europe, where Ucits can be widely distributed, and elsewhere.

EFG Hermes Asset Management has $2.6 billion under management, of which $1.5 billion is invested in equities. The company, which started in Egypt, has investment management teams in Cairo, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

©2016 funds global mena

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