ABU DHABI: Shashank Srivastava, acting CEO of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority, said, "The QFCA is delighted to be a sponsor once again of this latest GCC Mutual Fund Industry Survey. It is an invaluable and comprehensive source of current opinion and information on the mutual fund industry in our region and demonstrates the significant development potential of the industry here for all market participants. We at the QFCA are strongly supporting this development and, in particular, the growth of Qatar and the QFC as a regional hub for asset management, offering firms one of the most business friendly tax environments, a legal system based on English common law, efficient administration and a robust regulatory regime."
Michael Tomalin, the group chief executive of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi stated "this is the second edition of the GCC fund survey produced with the support of a range of participants from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates active in the asset management space in the region. We are excited to be part of a publication that is the result of industry wide collaboration and invite others to take part as well. We believe the extensive international distribution of the GCC fund survey is an excellent way to showcase the region to global investors".
Graham Hayward, Financial Services Partner at PwC, said: "It has been a great pleasure for PwC to support this excellent publication which collates and analyses information on the GCC mutual fund industry. This survey will provide a valuable source of reference for anyone with an interest in the Funds sector."
• At the end of June 2011, the survey identified 480 funds with assets of $34.1 billion. The dataset includes locally domiciled funds, local company sponsored funds irrespective of domicile, and funds with the GCC or one of the constituent markets as their geographic focus.
• In H1, 2011, GCC domiciled fund assets decreased by 6 percent from end-2010 ($1.97 billion) for funds in the dataset. There were an estimated $1.63 billion in net outflows from these funds, with the remainder of the decline in fund assets being attributable to market movements.
• In 2010, GCC domiciled fund assets increased by 7 percent ($2.3 billion) based on selected data. There were net inflows of just $205 million in 2010.
Assets under management at top GCC companies have declined compared to data in the 2010 edition of the fund industry survey. In contrast, top global asset managers have increased assets under management.
Global mutual fund assets stood at $25.9 trillion (+14 percent y-o-y) at the end of Q2, 2011 in 71,030 funds, according to data compiled by Investment Company institute (ICI) from 40 countries.
The recovery in mutual fund assets largely emanated from the rebound in global equity prices from a year earlier. Global fund assets rose by 1.2 percent q-o-q at end- Q2, 2010. Worldwide funds experienced $106 billion in net inflows in Q2, 2011 (net inflows were $78 billion in Q1) according to ICI, with continued flows into long-term funds, while short-term funds saw outflows. Money market funds have experienced outflows since Q1, 2009 due to a near zero interest rate environment. Equity fund assets were roughly unchanged compared to the first quarter, but were higher on a year on year basis and compared to end-2010. MSCI World index was up by 27.8 percent y-o-y (4 percent from end-2010) in June 2011. It has since declined 11% through end November 2011 with fears of a Euro break-up and double dip recession. The strengthening of the US dollar in the second half of 2011 means that global fund assets will also be lower in H2, 2011, in part, due to the exchange rate effect weighing on European fund assets.
At the end of June 2011, this survey identified 480 funds (with assets of $34.1 billion) that comprise its dataset and includes locally domiciled funds, local company sponsored funds irrespective of domicile, and funds with the GCC or one of the constituent markets as their geographic focus. The dataset covers 417 locally domiciled funds (assets under management $31.9 billion), and 304 funds with the GCC or one of the constituent markets as their geographic focus (assets under management $28.1 billion).
In terms of locally domiciled funds, Saudi Arabia accounted for 57 percent of the count, but 73 percent of assets based on the selected data.
In H1, 2011, GCC domiciled fund assets decreased by 6 percent from end-2010 ($1.97 billion) for funds tracked in our database. There were an estimated $1.63 billion in net outflows from these funds, with the remainder of the decline in fund assets being attributable to market movements. The decrease was primarily attributable to a $1.43 billion decrease in trade finance fund assets.
© Arab News 2012
