Firm will target foreign investors for new $500m MENA stock fund

The National Investor (TNI), an investment bank based in Abu Dhabi, yesterday announced plans to raise up to US$500 million (Dh1.83 billion) from local and international investors for a new fund targeting stocks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

TNI aims to attract a significant portion of the fund’s assets from investors in Europe and the Far East, continuing a trend in which investment firms from the region have been looking increasingly to bring foreign capital to the GCC.

Kashif Zia, a director and the head of sales at TNI, said yesterday his firm planned to present the new fund, called the MENA Blue Chip Fund, to interested investors in London next week. Next month, a similar presentation is planned for Geneva and Zurich, followed by Tokyo in December.