Acordias to distribute Emirates NBD managed funds to European financial advisers and life companies
Dubai, March 07, 2011: Emirates NBD Asset Management announced today that it has signed an agreement with Acordias, a service platform for financial intermediaries, to facilitate distribution of its managed funds to European domestic, expatriate financial advisers and international life companies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Acordias will market Emirates NBD managed funds that invest across a range of mandates and asset classes, including the Middle East and North Africa.
"Europe is one of the most developed and competitive fund markets," said Deon Vernooy, Chief Executive Officer, Emirates NBD Asset Management. "Over the past year, Emirates NBD Asset Management has been exploring various options to enter the European market and has identified suitable channels to reach asset allocators and financial advisers. We believe this tie up will enable international investors to access our managed funds through Acordias' best of breed financial products and tax-efficient wrap solutions," he added.
International investors are attracted to Arab markets because of the continuing growth in the region, backed by high oil and gas prices, economic wealth and current attractive valuations across equity and bond markets.
This is the latest step in the fund manager's strategy to increase third-party distribution partnerships and follows its foray into Singapore in 2010. The group has signed agreements with numerous global distribution partners in the past 18 months to service a growing international client base.
Emirates NBD Asset Management is a wholly-owned subsidiary and the asset management division of Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region. An asset management company regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and based in the Dubai International Financial Centre, it manages over $1.6 billion across a range of funds and asset classes. These include the MENA equity and fixed income funds and a suite of global risk profiled funds.
Andrew Wilkins, Chief Executive Officer, Acordias, said: "Emerging markets have been popular with investors in the past few years, and our brokers are currently seeking more undiscovered growth opportunities. The Emirates funds were overweight oil rich nations and underweight equities prior to the recent unrest and have therefore faired well against peers and benchmarks. They offer an interesting opportunity to access a region which because of recent anxiety has potential for healthy returns over the medium to long term. As such we think that they are a great addition to our platform."
Through its dedicated financial platform, Acordias provides a robust infrastructure, access to industry leading partners and a range of financial planning tools designed to assist intermediaries to better understand their client needs.
European institutional and professional investors now have access to investment fund products managed by Emirates NBD Asset Management through the Emirates NBD London Branch, an FSA regulated firm that acts as a distributor of the products.
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About Emirates NBD Asset Management
Emirates NBD Asset Management, which is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, is the asset management division of Emirates NBD Bank, the largest bank by assets in the MENA region. The asset management entity manages over $1.6billion across a range of products including MENA equity and fixed income funds, global risk profiled funds and a complete range of Shari'a compliant vehicles. The Emirates NBD managed funds are domiciled in Jersey and are regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission.
About Acordias (www.acordias.com)
Acordias is an exclusive service platform for financial intermediaries. It offers a robust infrastructure with access to 'best of breed' financial products and a range of financial planning tools designed to help brokers better understand their clients' needs. Together with their partners, they are regrouping the investor community and bringing industry practices and investor needs into harmony.
About Emirates NBD
Emirates NBD (DFM: Emirates NBD) is a leading bank in the region.
Emirates NBD have a leading retail banking franchise in the UAE, with 132 branches, 705 ATMs and SDMs. It is a major player in the UAE corporate banking arena, and has a strong Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management and brokerage operations.
The bank has operations in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom and Jersey (Channel Islands), and representative offices in India, Iran and Singapore. For more information, please visit: www.emiratesnbd.com
For further information, please contact:
Afaf Jbara / Hassan Al Khuwaildi
Communications
Group Marketing, Emirates NBD
Tel: 971-4-7015305 / 971-4-2092263
Mob: 971 50 8842020 / 971 50 7454454
Email: Afafj@emiratesbank.com / HassanAl@emiratesnbd.com
Parisa Ansarian / Sudha Chandran / Iman Ahmed
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
Dubai, UAE
Tel: 971-4-3355969
Fax: 971-4-3356080
Email: p.ansarian@asdaa.com / s.chandran@asdaa.com / i.ahmed@asdaa.com
© Press Release 2011
