Saudi Fransi Capital has launched a specialised services group aimed at international investors, in anticipation of an imminent opening up of the Saudi market. The firm is also planning to launch its first public fund of hedge funds (FoHF) in Q1 2012, Mena FM can exclusively reveal. 

“We’re currently looking at a FoHF to be public,” confirmed Saudi Fransi Capital’s CEO Yasir Al-Rumayyan. “We have one already on private placement, but we’re trying to introduce the idea of absolute return funds, which is something that we don’t have currently in the Saudi market.” 

Al-Rumayyan, a former CMA executive, said that he expected to see an imminent opening up of the Saudi market to Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII), stating that “the next logical step is for the Saudi market to open up”. 

“It’s going to be a QFII system, most likely, for foreign institutional investors,” he added. “Those investors should be qualified. I’m sure they will also have some parameters for AUM, experience or something of that sort.” 

According to Al-Rumayyan, the QFII development is part of a long-term plan by the CMA and Tadawul to “internationalise” the market. “The strategy is to open up the market gradually,” he added.