Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management said it has signed up Citi, a leading global custody and fund administration provider, to provide custody to Majid Al Futtaim Trust and both custody and fund administration to its funds.

One recently-announced fund, the Elite Mena Equity Fund, is the first Mena equity product offered by Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management.

The Majid Al Futtaim family office has seeded the fund with Dh550 million ($150 million), making it one of the largest MENA equity funds available to investors.

Focused on the Mena region, the ‘long-only’ open ended fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, aims to achieve long term asset growth and capital preservation through a tried and tested ‘Risk-Managed Growth’ approach to Mena investments.

Iyad Malas, the chief executive officer of Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management, said, “We sought a long-term partner in Citi for consolidation of our service providers. Citi was chosen because it is the leading global custody and fund administration provider with a robust service structure in the Middle East and strong regional presence.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Citi will provide Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management with custody and fund administration services including safekeeping of securities valuation of investments, foreign exchange, and the settlement of transactions.

Richard Street, head of Securities and Fund Services, Middle East, Citi, said, "We are delighted Majid Al Futtaim has chosen our network and breadth of services to help it seize the advantages of the current investment environment."

"In servicing Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management, Citi are able to deliver our Investor Services capabilities with a local service touch. We continue to expand our Mena franchise and develop our strategy to embed our Securities and Fund Services capabilities with the region."

"The Middle East is an exceptional market place – one demanding local solutions with global service standards and we are building out our full Securities and Fund Services product set within the region to service Intermediary, Investor and Issuer clients both locally and internationally," he added.-TradeArabia News Service