MENA Asset Management Survey 2012 - National Bank of Abu Dhabi

Benchmarks
Industry Perspective
Amin El Kholy – Managing Director
Arqaam Capital
Q/ Please describe your firm’s activities in the GCC
region asset management industry - a) Description b)
Size c) Organizational set-up d) Investor profile
A/ Arqaam Capital was set up as a specialist Emerging
Markets investment bank with seven business lines including
Asset Management, and offices in the UAE, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt and the UK.
• Asset Management activities at Arqaam Capital started on December 1 st 2009
with the launch of the Arqaam Alpha Fund - a long/short hedge fund with an emphasis
on risk-budgeting and management to preserve capital - investing in the MENA markets
(performance since inception is +11.0% vs. -1.2% for the S&P Arabian Capped Index
with volatility at 6.4% versus 12.7% and a beta of 0.4).
• On May 1 st 2011, we launched the Arqaam Value Fund, a bottom-up, long only
fund which also invests in MENA. The fund uses a combination of GARP and Value
styles in mid and large-cap stocks, preferably uncovered by sell-side analysts and
undiscovered, to build a concentrated portfolio of 20-25 positions with no regard to the
weight of stocks in the index (performance since inception is +18% versus -5.9% for the
S&P Arabian Capped Index with a lower volatility, alpha of 12.8% and a beta of 0.61).
b) Total AUMs of the firm stand at USD 112 million as at the end of December
2012 split as follows: Alpha Fund 52.6 million, Value Fund 59.3 million.
c) The Asset Management team at Arqaam is made up of 8 staff, including CIO,
portfolio managers, analysts and traders. The team is supported at corporate level by the
sales team, client services, operations and the Chief Risk Officer.
d) The client base of the current funds is predominantly institutions from the GCC
region as well as a number of HNW/UHNW individuals.
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