Abu Dhabi-based fund manager, Waha Capital, is set to invest up to $200 million in the next few months with most of the money going on US equities.
Chief executive Amr Al Menhali said that the firm, which has more than $3.5 billion in assets under management, would be looking to spend between $120 million and $150 million on five to six US companies.
Coronavirus-related declines in valuation meant there were a “good number of opportunities in the US, mainly in listed companies” said Al Menhali in comments reported by Bloomberg.
He also said that Waha Capital had “a good amount of cash” which would enable it to buy without borrowing. This comes despite the fact that the firm posted a loss of $167 million for 2019 while its shares have fallen by 21% so far in 2020.
Waha Capital is also planning to bolster its investment team with the appointment of a chief investment officer for private investments as well as a number of new portfolio managers, according to Al Menhali. The fund has made a number of executive changes in the last 12 months including the hire of Al Menhali in July 2019 and a new CFO in February.
The chief executive also disclosed that the firm is planning to launch a sharia-compliant fund before the end of the year with seed funding of $30 million to $50 million, followed by a fixed income fund.
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