​EFG Hermes, Saudi Arabia’s Top-Ranked Asset Manager, Launches Hasaad, a Sharia-compliant Freestyle Saudi Equity Fund As Saudi Arabia opens its equity market to qualified foreign institutions, EFG Hermes KSA offers a new investment product targeted at local and regional investors  Riyadh, 08 June 2015 Investors seeking superior Sharia-compliant returns as Saudi Arabia opens to qualified foreign investors next week have a compelling new option in Hasaad, a freestyle equity fund managed by EFG Hermes KSA. Hasaad, or ‘harvest’ in Arabic, is an open-ended freestyle equity fund that aims to generate medium-to-long-term capital appreciation by investing in Sharia-compliant equities listed on the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange, Tadawul. The Saudi market is by far the largest, most liquid, and most diverse equity market in the Middle East and North Africa. The market is due to open directly to qualified foreign institutions on 15 June 2015; at present, non-resident foreigners can only invest in Saudi equities indirectly either through funds or swap agreements. “We are delighted to announce the launch of Hasaad, a fund tailor-made for the dynamic Saudi market,” said Majed Kabbara, Head of Asset Management at EFG Hermes KSA. “The fund has a freestyle investment strategy, which gives the fund manager more flexibility in deciding on the number of holdings and equity exposure level in an effort to achieve strong absolute returns. Hasaad is mainly targeted at Sharia-compliant local as well as regional investors.” “Hasaad offers Sharia-compliant investors access to the EFG Hermes team’s investment management capabilities in the Saudi market, which is expected to generate strong returns over the medium to long term, especially with its potential inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index,” noted Kabbara. “We expect the market to rally sharply during the 12 to 18 months leading to its inclusion in the widely followed MSCI EM Index, which might take place by mid-2017 at the earliest, and we believe the consistently strong performance of our flagship conventional fund — The EFG Hermes Saudi Arabia Equity Fund — will drive strong investor interest in Hasaad, which will be managed by the same team.” With around USD 3 billion in AUMs and a team of 46 professionals across three regional offices, EFG Hermes Asset Management is the asset manager of choice in the Arab world; the division serves a client base that includes sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, multinational corporations, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals, among others. The division’s ability to consistently deliver superior returns across a broad and diverse product spectrum has repeatedly seen it receive performance based awards recognizing its position atop league tables. These include the EFG Hermes Saudi Arabia Equity Fund being named the best performing Saudi equity fund over a three-year period at the MENA Fund Manager Performance Awards 2015; and the  “Best Saudi Equity Fund 2014” by Zawya Thomson Reuters in recognition of its outstanding performance in 2013. The Riyadh-based team also won the Global Banking and Finance Review’s award for “Best Asset Manager in KSA” in 2014. “The roll-out of the new Sharia-compliant Saudi-focused equity fund Hasaad falls directly in line with our primary objective of developing our product offering to meet the needs of investors in the primary markets in which we operate — of which Saudi is one of the most important,” concluded Amr Seif, Head of EFG Hermes Asset Management. “I am confident that Hasaad, similar to our existing products, will be a success and a big step towards a wider product range in our region’s largest market.”