The open-ended fund, which is open for subscription from tomorrow, will invest in call accounts, fixed deposits, murabahas, wakalas, bonds with residual maturity of less than 1 year, certificate of deposits, commercial paper, money market funds, T-Bills and other short-term instruments issued by banks, governments, quasi-governments and other entities. The Fund will invest primarily in Oman and also in the GCC countries.
Ali Said Ali, DGM — Asset Management and Private Banking, said: “BankMuscat Asset Management is proud to launch the Money Market Fund which offers a safe investment avenue. Against the prevailing volatile global financial and economic conditions, the fund assumes importance as a safe cash management tool.
“The short-term nature of investments significantly reduces the risk. The Fund also offers high liquidity and yields linked to short-term interest rates. If short-term interest rates in the general economy go up, so do yields on the Fund.”
Ali Said Ali added: “The Fund is managed by BankMuscat Asset Management and is regulated by the Capital Market Authority. The bank’s high rating strengthens the viability of the Fund, which makes available to investors in Oman a new type of instrument previously available in international markets only.
“Money market funds globally account for $4.7 trillion which is 18 per cent of the global assets under management of $25.84 trillion. In the GCC region, there are 56 money market funds with $14.56 billion assets under management, accounting for 52 per cent of the total funds in the region.”
The minimum investment in the open-ended BankMuscat Money Market Fund is RO 250,000.
Significant investment by the Fund would be in deposits/instruments with less than 3 months maturity. The Fund will not invest in instruments having maturity of more than 1 year.
These entities or instruments should be rated Investment Grade by credit rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, Fitch or Capital Intelligence. The Fund will invest only in instruments/securities that are denominated in any GCC currencies or US dollar.
Investment in deposits outside Oman will not exceed 50 per cent of the Fund size and not more than 15 per cent of the Fund’s Net Asset Value will be in deposits of any single entity outside Oman.
BankMuscat Asset Management Department (AMD) has always taken the lead to understand the needs of retail and institutional clients and provide suitable investment solutions.
The department currently manages assets of around $950 million investing in fixed income and equities. BankMuscat AMD offers a variety of funds investing in Oman, GCC countries and India. It is one of the largest fund managers in the region and enjoys a dominant position being the first fund house in Oman with funds rated by Standard & Poor’s.
BankMuscat AMD also manages structured products, hedge funds and private equity funds. The division offers discretionary portfolio management service to suit varied clients, including pension funds, global funds, high net worth individuals, corporations and other entities. BankMuscat AMD is currently evaluating opportunities in fixed income and real estate in the GCC region.
