JEDDAH, 24 December 2006 — Zawya, a Dubai-based business information company, launched a first of its kind Mutual Funds Monitor. The MFM is a monitoring service covering mutual funds in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Coverage includes funds investing at least 50 percent of their total assets in the MENA region. Those funds can be open-ended or closed-ended, listed or non-listed and investing in money-market instruments, fixed income, equities and other types of securities.
Launched two weeks ago, the Mutual Funds Monitor has received a positive response. “There was anticipation for it because there is nothing like it,” said Pamela Chikhani, financial analyst at Zawya and the developer of this service. “It provides access for professionals and regular retail investors to information about the mutual funds in the region and different tools to compare among them.”
Phase one of the MFM was launched covering 185 mutual funds in four countries in the region - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Egypt. Next month, the second phase will involve expanding coverage to over 400 mutual funds in various countries in the region. There will also be more analytical tools.
“I’m optimistic about the second phase. The first phase has been very successful and the second will be ten times more successful,” said Chikhani. The GCC mutual funds industry is estimated to be worth between $45 and $55 billion with around 400 operating funds. Saudi Arabia is the Gulf Cooperation Council’s largest mutual funds market with more than 200 operating mutual funds.
“I expect that after the recent market crash in Saudi Arabia, people will seek professionals to manage their stocks and the market now is very attractive as all stocks are undervalued,” said Chikhani. The GCC funds are divided mostly in three categories: around 280 equity funds, around 20 fixed-income funds and around 70 money market funds. The GCC mutual funds industry is estimated to reach $160 billion by 2010.
The main features of Zaywa’s Mutual Funds Monitor are the Funds Details, a comprehensive list of fund profiles highlighting important terms and conditions for each fund along with its expenses and performance overview.
The Funds Search & Comparison search engine and filtering tool is available, allowing the user to find the exact fund he is looking for and create list of funds according to different criteria and be able to compare them for a quick evaluation. There is also Top Ten Funds by Returns, a toolbox that lists the top ten gainers and top ten losers of all the funds in the monitor. The service also provides a watch list function for users to track their preferred funds.