DUBAI - Gulf asset manager Amwal Capital Partners plans to launch a fixed income division to tap opportunities in the region, it said on Wednesday.

Amwal, which lists its clients as including sovereign wealth funds, international institutional investors and multi-family offices, has around $2 billion in assets under management.

"We are excited by the opportunity presented by the fixed income asset class broadly and more particularly in this part of the world where the asset class is rapidly expanding and the yield opportunity is real," Amwal said in an email to Reuters.

Earlier, two sources had told Reuters about Amwal's plan to launch the division and said that Zeina Rizk and Sharif Eid would be appointed to co-head the fixed income business.

"We are confident they (Rizk and Eid) will successfully lead this exciting new and synergetic business to our core equity strategies and offer complementary credit investments to our clients", Amwal added in its statement.

Based in Dubai since 2016, Amwal opened an office in Riyadh last year to cater directly to clients in Saudi Arabia.

Rizk was previously at Arqaam Capital and Eid will join from Franklin Templeton.

(Reporting by Rachna Uppal and Federico Maccioni; editing by Jason Neely and Alexander Smith)