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BankMuscat Asset Management and Investment
Banking sponsor Exchange Traded Funds Forum
Muscat.
14 January 2008: BankMuscat SAOG, the
nation’s leading bank, is proudly sponsoring the
first ever ‘Exchange Traded Funds Forum’ through
its Asset Management and Investment Banking
Departments. The forum will be held in Muscat at
Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa. It is
organsied by Muscat Securities Market and Dow
Jones Indexes.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are the most
innovative class of securities to hit the market
since the introduction of mutual funds. ETFs
have grown increasingly popular in recent years.
ETFs are securities that closely resemble index
funds, but can be traded like stock. They
provide diversified investment opportunities for
investors through open-ended collective
investment schemes that can be traded at any
time throughout the course of the day. ETFs
offer convenience of a stock along with the
diversification of a mutual fund.
The event includes speakers from around the
world like Rushdi Siddiqui - Global Director of
Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, Tony O’Brien -
Vice President, Product Specialists of Bank of
New York and Deborah A. Fuhr - Managing Director
of Investment Strategies, Morgan Stanley in
London and many more.
Topics like ‘indexes: The Foundation For ETFs’,
International Regulatory Requirements and
Framework for ETFs, ‘The Role and
Responsibilities of Managing ETFs in Developed
and Emerging Markets’, ‘Working with Stock
Exchanges and Islamic ETFs’ and ‘Prospect for
ETF in Oman’ will be covered in the forum.
Speaking on the occasion, AbdulRazak Ali Issa,
Chief Executive, BankMuscat said:
“It gives BankMuscat great pleasure to be
associated with this event. This forum will play
a significant role in providing the perfect
opportunity to explore the potential of Exchange
Traded Funds in our developing market. It brings
together a wide selection of audiences from
different backgrounds and financial markets.”
The event is sponsored by Asset Management and
Investment Banking Departments in BankMuscat.
BankMuscat Asset Management currently enjoys
dominant market share of all mutual funds in
Oman. The department offers a wide variety of
local and international investment products and
depending on the risk profile and target returns
of our clients. BankMuscat Asset Management is
the largest fund manager in Oman. The funds
managed by BankMuscat have a very long proven
track record and are one of the best performing
funds in the region, actively managing mutual
funds, client portfolios, pension plans. The
Funds that are currently managed by BankMuscat
Asset Management include the Muscat Fund, Oryx
Fund and the BankMuscat MSCI® Kuwait Fund.
Muscat Fund was launched in 1995 while Oryx
Fund’s history goes back to 1994. BankMuscat
MSCI® Kuwait Fund was launched in October 2006.
Muscat Fund invests in stocks listed on the
Muscat Securities Market and Oryx Fund invests
in GCC stocks. The return over a 5 year period
is an impressive 379% for Muscat Fund and 273%
for the Oryx Fund as per October 2007. These
funds are the only Oman based funds that have
been rated by Standard and Poors. The funds
offer daily liquidity to investors and are
managed by a team of professionals. Portfolios
and mutual funds managed by Asset Management
have consistently delivered outstanding returns
with significantly less volatility than the
market. BankMuscat Asset Management has the
experience required to establish and mange index
tracker funds and currently provides
index-tracking investments through Muscat Fund
and BankMuscat MSCI® Kuwait Fund.
Furthermore, under a license issued by the
Muscat Securities Market, BankMuscat’s brokerage
division provides value added stock broking
services to both international and domestic
investors. It is one of the leading brokerage
companies on the Muscat Securities Market and
has been the recipient of numerous awards over
the years from the Muscat Securities Market. We
are proud to say that it is the preferred broker
for many of the world’s leading emerging market
foreign investors. BankMuscat, through its
network of partners, also provides brokerage
services on select regional bourses. BankMuscat
Brokerage's core strengths are its expertise in
equity research and its wide reach across a wide
spectrum of investors. This is all supported by
a strong research team. The team regularly
tracks and analyses events and trends at micro
(company specific) and macro (economy related)
levels. Local coverage includes 12 sectors and
more than 30 companies representing close to 80%
of market capitalization. In most cases, our
research reports tend to be the opinion leader
on MSM stocks.
During 2007, steps were taken to include more
companies within Oman and also to expand
research coverage to the other GCC countries.
About 8 additional Omani companies were brought
under coverage and several reports were
published on GCC companies, which amongst others
included reports on Kuwait Banking Sector, GCC
Telecom Sector and Kuwait Industrials. Going
forward, GCC coverage should expand
significantly. |
