S&P Fund Services assigns first rating to Saudi based fund

Standard & Poor's Fund Services announced today that it has assigned an A fund management rating to SAIB GCC Equity Fund, the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) equities fund managed out of Saudi Arabia to receive an S&P fund management rating.

Launched in July 2004, the fund is managed by Sohail Hayyan, who took over the management of the fund in March 2008 and who works closely with Sethuraman Narayanan, assistant manager. The team is overseen by two experienced individuals, CEO Radi Al Haddad and CIO Fazal Seyyed, who have successfully set up a healthy working environment and improved stability within the team.

In contrast to some competitors, the group has enjoyed gradual and measured growth after its joint venture with BNP Paribas in 2007, which raised standards to an international level. The managers follow a clear, disciplined and well-defined process, which combines top-down with bottom-up analysis, and aims to outperform the MSCI GCC index by 2% a year over the long term.

"The performance of the fund remains solid relative to both the benchmark and the sector median and, importantly, with less volatility. Although it is still relatively early days for the fund, the overall structure is solid with good resources. With five years' investment experience, Hayyan shows promise as a fund manager. Both Hayyan and Narayanan come across as thoughtful managers with good stock knowledge and strong interaction with the analyst team. This, together with the solid initial returns, underpins the fund's A Rating," said S&P Fund Services lead analyst, Roberto Demartini.

"In addition to this new fund, S&P Fund Services has rated six new funds investing in the Middle East since the beginning of 2010, which is testament to the increased attention paid by investors towards the Middle East region," said Demartini. "We now rate 27 funds investing in the region, since our launch less than three years ago."

"The rating assigned by S&P Fund Services to the SAIB GCC Equity Fund, is a positive recognition of our disciplined investment approach that is backed by robust processes, integrated research and a highly qualified investment team. SAIB BNP Paribas is a significant player in the GCC space in terms of AUM with a diverse platform of products and a long track record," said Radi S. Al Haddad, CEO of SAIB BNP Paribas Asset Management.