QInvest, Qatar's leading investment bank and one of the most prominent Islamic financial institutions in the world, announces that it is launching a sharia’a-compliant European Equities fund in partnership with Pioneer Investments, a leading global asset management firm with over US$246 billion in assets under management*. Pioneer Investments will manage the fund and act as sub advisor.
The fund will focus on investing in pan-European blue-chip, mid and large-cap stocks. It will be actively managed by the specialist European Equity team at Pioneer Investments, with Andrew Arbuthnot as the Portfolio Manager. The team has been managing European Equity assets for fifteen years based on a consistently applied research-driven philosophy and process. This approach has provided a strong track record over the medium to long term through all market cycles. The fund’s investment strategy will be similar to the Pioneer European Concentrated Equity Strategy, which currently has in the region of US$1.3 billion under management** and has been managed by Andrew Arbuthnot since 2001.
Dr Ataf Ahmed, Head of Asset Management at QInvest, said, “The launch of this fund broadens our offering to clients, providing access to a portfolio with dedicated pan-European exposure. We believe that the current macroeconomic environment in Europe, characterised by a weak euro, low oil prices and the likely onset of quantitative easing by the ECB, will be positive for European businesses and create some compelling investment opportunities over the mid-term. We are very excited by this partnership and look forward to working with the investment team at Pioneer Investments.”
Neal Jenkins, Head of the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa region at Pioneer Investments, commented, “Around the world, there is a growing demand for sharia’a-compliant European-focused products. This is being driven by not just Islamic investors looking to increase their exposure to European stocks, but also by conventional investors looking to diversify their portfolios, many of whom are being drawn to the more ethical investing principles of Islamic finance. We are pleased our successful track record in managing European equity portfolios was able to attract such a strong partner as QInvest and we look forward to working together with them with the aim of capturing this growing global demand”.
Tamim Hamad Al Kawari, Chief Executive Officer of QInvest said, “QInvest has focused on expanding the capabilities of QInvest Asset Management and in particular QMAP, the QInvest Managed Account Platform. The addition of this fund further expands the product offering available on our platform to potential equity investors, and offers clients a portfolio with a dedicated pan-European exposure”.