Saudi Arabian investment bank Al Khabeer Capital has launched its debut public fund offering. The Shariah-compliant Al Khabeer GCC Equity Fund was launched in July with an initial investment in the range of SAR25-50m ($6.7-13.3m). The fund manager hopes to grow its AUM to more than $100m by targeting High Net Worth Individuals, Ultra High Net Worth Individuals and institutional investors.

“The current economic climate of GCC is in stark contrast to the developed economies, which are experiencing significant economic challenges, whereas the GCC sits on attractive growth opportunities,” Ammr Shata, CEO of Al Khabeer Capital, told Mena FM. “This fund aims to capture such growth opportunities and our team of experts handpicks each investment opportunity after rigorous fundamental and technical analyses.”

Al Khabeer has been investing its own capital in GCC equities since 2009 but this is the first time its investment strategies will be available to the public. An additional fund, the Al Khabeer Liquidity Fund Haseen, has been given Saudi CMA regulatory approval, but is yet to be launched. “The market dynamics are being watched cautiously,” said Shata.

“We are currently looking at different opportunities and these should materialise in due course,” he adds. “We are focused on inflation-hedged products, and in the future we will have more alternatives when it comes to commodity funds and protected capital. We will also look at capital gain and real estate activities in the Eurozone and Mena area.”