GCC mutual fund assets up

GCC-domiciled mutual fund assets expanded four per cent year-on-year to $31.53 billion in the first half of 2012.

There was an estimated $1.15 billion in net inflows to these funds. The increase was primarily attributable to a $1.14 billion increase in money market fund assets. Trade finance funds saw significant net inflows estimated at $564 million, the Mena Asset Management Survey 2012 said.

In the UAE, the second-largest Arab economy, there were 45 locally-domiciled funds with assets under management, or AUM, of $1.1 billion, of which 10 were Shariah-compliant with assets of $145 million. There were 21 funds with an AUM of $704 million that indicated the UAE as its geographic focus.

AUM by companies based in the Dubai International Financial Centre amounted to $8.6 billion, rising 21 per cent year-on-year at the end of September 2012. Domestic fund assets stood at $309 million and foreign fund assets were at $2.4 billion, according to the survey. AUM in portfolios amounted to $5.9 billion.

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