Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) said that its fixed income fund Gulf Bond Fund has achieved a year-to-date return of 3.29 per cent, showing consistent performance in the first half of this year as against the same period of 2010.

“The fund’s noticeable performance since it was launched six years ago is a reflection of GIC’s industry expertise built up over the last 26 years,” said Khalifa Al Rashid, vice president - GCC Fixed Income Desk and Fund Manager.

Al-Rashid also mentioned that GIC’s primary objective is to ensure that the Gulf Bond Fund provides investors with consistently competitive performance.

The fund, which was launched in 2005, aims to generate a return in excess of short-term bank deposits. It also seeks maximum current income and price appreciation, consistent with the preservation of capital and low return volatility.

The high quality of the portfolio, where 84 per cent of underlying assets are rated A- and above, according to International Rating Agencies, and the management’s prudent selection criteria, which involves selecting highly rated and highly liquid regional securities, weekly redemptions and consistent returns with a low risk profile, attracts clients seeking a conservative investment approach to the fund.

As a result, even in the current market scenario, the Fund was able to achieve positive performance for the second quarter in a row and continues to attract new subscriptions from a range of clients such as insurance companies, banks, high net worth individuals and pension funds, and has grown to reach approximately $150 million.

This places GIC ahead of all specialized institutions in managing investment products in the bond sector, a statement said.

Tarek Al-Rohayem, head of GCC Research at GIC, said “The fund’s solid performance has been backed up by the concerted effort of one of the largest buy-side research desks in the region, dedicated to analyzing market trends and directions and uncovering investment opportunities.”

“This is done through a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches to investment research with a special focus on the Debt Capital Markets of the region which we believe would become one of the most promising in terms of risk-return profile.”

“Despite wide-spread market instability in the region in the first quarter of the year, we have managed to grow positively and protect our products against any significant downside impact. We stand first in the region in introducing a dedicated credit research desk and manage high profile portfolios across the region,” Al-Rohayem added. – TradeArabia News Service