“Markaz Gulf Fund” is listed in Bahrain Stock Exchange

Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz”, one of the Middle East’s leading investment banking and asset management companies, announced the listing of “Markaz Gulf Fund” in Bahrain Stock Exchange, following an agreement signed by Mr. Fouad Rashed, BSE Director, and Mr. Manaf Alhajeri, General Manager of Markaz.

On this occasion, Mr. Mujib Moosa, Vice President, Local and GCC Investments Department, said “The Kingdom of Bahrain has succeeded in positioning itself as a regional financial centre amongst investment circles. In addition, Bahrain Stock Exchange has enjoyed good levels of stock market transparency and enforcement of better corporate governance standards.”

Mr. Moosa added “We are happy with listing Markaz Gulf Fund on the Bahrain Stock Exchange. This step should grant the Fund more visibility with the regional investors and also provide flexibility for investors on BSE to look at opportunities to invest in diversified GCC investment products..”

“Markaz Gulf Fund”, established in December 2005, aims at seeking long term appreciation by investing principally in equity securities listed on the stock markets of the region. The fund was amended recently to invest not only in the GCC markets but in all MENA markets, in order to benefit from the wide spectrum of fundamentally strong and promising investment sectors. The Fund’s benchmark is MSCI Arabian Index.

About Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz”:

Kuwait Financial Centre S.A.K ‘Markaz’, with total assets under management of over KD 880 million as of December 31, 2008 was established in 1974, and has become one of the leading asset management and investment banking institutions in the Arabian Gulf Region. Markaz was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) in 1997; and was awarded a BBB+ corporate rating by Capital Intelligence Ltd.

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