Global announced today that three of its funds are among the top seven performing funds in 2009 (year to date October 2009) managed by Kuwaiti investment companies and banks in the GCC markets.

The best performing fund amongst its peers is the Global Energy, Petrochemical and Downstream Industries Fund followed by Global GCC Large Cap Fund and Global GCC Islamic Fund in the fourth and seventh positions respectively.

Commenting on the funds’ performances, the Head of GCC Asset Management at Global , Mr. Shahid Hameed said, “We are proud of the performance of our GCC Funds, which are amongst the top funds in Kuwait and the region this year. This performance can be attributed to our rigorous research driven bottom-up investment process which allows us to identify the most attractive stocks across the region.”

He added, “The stellar performance of the GCC Funds this year can mainly be attributed to superior stock selection and asset allocation.”

Global Energy, Petrochemical, and Downstream Industries Fund (EPADI)  has produced a return of 44.7% for its investors during the first ten months of 2009, making it the best performing GCC fund managed by Kuwaiti investment companies and banks. In comparison, the MSCI GCC Index, the regional equity benchmark index, is up only 24% over the corresponding period. The Fund performance has been driven by a rebound in regional equity markets as a result of rising oil prices and a revival in global investor sentiment.

The Global EPADI Fund, which is amongst the few energy sector funds in the region, seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in companies principally engaged in energy, petrochemicals and downstream industries listed on the Arabian stock exchanges. The investment process is based on a bottom-up stock selection methodology along with a macroeconomic overlay to identify growth opportunities throughout the MENA region. Given the fact that the Gulf economies are largely oil driven, the Fund provides investors a good tool to play the economic growth in the region. 

The Global GCC Large Cap. Fund, which invests in the widely held large cap stocks in the GCC markets, has recorded 22.9% year to date October 2009. The fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of large cap stocks listed on the GCC stock exchanges.

The Global GCC Islamic Fund has recorded a return on 20.23% for the same period. The fund invests in companies in the GCC markets as per the pre-defined Shari’ah criteria. The fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of Shariah compliant stocks listed on the GCC stock exchanges.

Mr. Hameed concluded by saying, “These achievements are the results of our committed to provide our clients with competitive returns on their investments supported by a high level of service.”