State Street Global Advisors has launched two global active equity funds in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking the firm's first push into the funds business in the region.
Both funds will be available to wholesale distributors, such as banks, wealth managers and financial advisers, as well as institutional investors in the Middle East.
The State Street Global Value Spotlight Fund and the State Street Global Opportunities Equity Fund are actively invested to build a concentrated portfolio of 30 to 40 securities and aim to generate long term capital growth by allocating to global equities.
Both funds are Luxembourg domiciled and registered with the UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).
"The wider MENA region, and the UAE in particular, is a key market for us. These funds both expand our offering and demonstrate our commitment to the region. The Middle East continues to experience growth as it pursues an ambitious diversification and transformation program to reduce reliance on oil with the UAE's GDP forecast to grow by 6.2% in 2022 and 6.7% in 2023.
Emmanuel Laurina, head of the Middle East & Africa at SSGA said: "State Street Global Advisors has now been supporting institutional investors in the Middle East for 30 years since establishing our local presence in 1992.
"The registration of these funds is a milestone for us, marking the beginning of our wholesale distribution business in the region.
"We are committed to further developing our offering in the fund distribution, financial advisory and banking sectors and these funds are the beginning of that journey."
State Street Global Value Spotlight Fund and the State Street Global Opportunities Equity Fund are benchmarked to MSCI World Index and MSCI All Country World Index respectively.
