ING (L) Invest Middle East and North Africa Fund is a leading performer amid volatile markets
Dubai - ING Investment Management (ING IM) Middle East, the UAE-based office of the international investment management firm, has announced positive performance results for its first MENA Equities Fund. The ING (L) Invest Middle East and North Africa Fund outperformed the two regional benchmark indices, MSCI Arabian Markets and MSCI Arabian Markets ex SA Index, between 31st December 2008 and 11th May 2009, by 11.14% and 21.55% respectively, with an absolute return for the fund of 21%.
The Dubai-based equities team has targeted companies with strong fundamentals and looks beyond just value to search out visible earnings growth, strong business models and management with superior expertise and experience. A thorough investment process based on ING IM's proprietary research that combines 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' analyses to identify cash generative businesses, ideally with low or no leverage and government support.
Commenting on the Fund's year-to-date performance Farah Foustok, Chief Executive Officer, ING IM Middle East said: "Naturally we are pleased with the results so far, and aim to maintain our consistent performance in the future. We have a strong, dynamic and experienced team on the ground here who understand the regional stories and are able to actively manage the Fund through market volatility."
Foustok added: "Following a good first five months we expect new subscriptions in the fund before the summer, and growth in the discretionary portfolio management services for institutional clients. As well as excellent performance, investors are attracted to our combination of regional experience and global international standards and best practices."
Reflecting on the Fund's strategy Fadi Al Said, Head of Equities, ING IM Middle East said: "Despite the volatile markets, ING IM Middle East has been able to find interesting opportunities that returned year-to-date 21% in absolute terms. This demonstrates that keeping cash assets in 2009, year to date, has been an underperforming strategy."
Al Said added: "It is important for us to also meet with the companies we invest in to truly understand their story; something we are able to do as we are based in the region. This means that ING IM can identify opportunities in small and mid-cap companies, as well as the better known large blue chip companies. We have found that growth stories exist but the market dynamics have changed so we need to look at different influences to company fundamentals - we need to understand what drives company valuation, risks to the business and external factors of influence."
The Fund's performance to date highlights not only ING IM's commitment to identifying the growth stories across the region, but also the benefits of international best practices combined with an on-the-ground presence.
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ING Investment Management
ING Investment Management (ING IM) is a global asset manager with over EUR 325 bn* of Assets under Management in 37 countries in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe. ING IM is the principle asset manager of ING Group, a global financial services company operating in over 40 countries. In Europe and the Middle East, ING IM has offices in 16 countries and has Assets under Management of approximately EUR 125 bn*.
ING IM provides investment strategies across all major asset classes for the ING Group network, insurance companies and for institutional clients. ING IM combines this with ING Group's international distribution capabilities to offer integrated financial services solutions globally to all its clients. Visit www.ingim.com for more information.
*As of May 2009.
Press Release 2009
