Qatar Exchange (QE), in collaboration with QNB Financial Services, will host key forums in London and New York aimed at supporting the further development and practice of its listed companies’ investor relations.

The events will be hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York and Deutsche Bank in London during a week-long roadshow, said a statement from QE.  

The forum is designed to complement the companies’ ongoing investor relations activities through providing an opportunity for the senior management of listed companies to meet key decision makers from a number of the world’s largest international fund managers, it stated.

However, the forthcoming inclusion of Qatar in the MSCI Emerging Market Index provided a unique opportunity for Qatar to showcase its market-leading listed companies at a time when the profile of Qatar was set to be raised further, it added.

The strength of the Qatar ’story’ means portfolio investors continue to view the country as an exciting investment opportunity, a fact that has been reflected in the enthusiastic response to the forum.

"The timing of our visit and that of our listed companies is of course not a coincidence; Qatar is very proud to have worked alongside the global investment community and MSCI itself in working through the various challenges necessary to secure ‘emerging market’ status," remarked Rashid al Mansoori, the CEO of Qatar Exchange, who is leading the delegation.

He pointed out that the MSCI (and S&P) decisions to upgrade the Qatari market to emerging market status reflected the recognition of prominent international investment institutions that we are doing many things right in terms of the development of the market infrastructure and the implementation of a number of important projects and initiatives.

Al-Mansoori described the forum as an opportunity for a detailed two-way dialogue between investors and companies in a focused one-on-one environment.

“Qatar Exchange is pleased to be back in [New York / London] showcasing the best of Qatar with our listed companies; we trust that both sides, corporates and fund managers will find the meetings scheduled over the coming four days to be a worthwhile experience,” he added.  

Abdulla Al-Sada, the deputy CEO of QNB Financial Services, said: “We are pleased to be partnering with the Qatar Exchange on this event.  With more than $1.1 billion in foreign flows into Qatar this year, this event represents a valuable opportunity to reinforce Qatar’s strong investment story to institutions in the US and UK.”

"Over the five days through a combination of one-to-one and group meetings the listed companies will meet with over 70 fund managers representing 50 major institutions. Those institutions represent the most important funds allocating money to Qatar and the GCC; the two forums together hosted over 200 meetings," he added.-TradeArabia News Service