Bahrain banks tie in with UK fund manager

16 December 1994
FINANCE

Bahrain's Al-Ahli Commercial Bank has become the second Gulf institution to access a fund managed by the London-based Gartmore Investment Management. The scheme reflects growing investor appetite in the GCC for global instruments, analysts say.

The Al-Ahli investment scheme, launched in Manama on 4 December, gives local investors with a minimum of $10,000 access to Gartmore's Capital Strategy Fund, established in 1984 as a multi-asset umbrella fund investing in equities, bonds and cash deposits across the world.

Speaking at the launch in Bahrain, Al-Ahli's chief executive Michael Fuller said that local investors were ready for an investment scheme in which a local bank could access worldwide bond and equity markets.

Gartmore also has an arrangement with the Al Bank Al Saudi Al Fransi for its investors to access a similar fund. The fund management group says it is looking for other distribution arrangements in the Middle East with a focus on the GCC.

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