The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has granted a licence to Allianz Global Investors Europe GmbH (AllianzGI Europe) to open an office in Bahrain.
Germany-registered Allianz Global Investors Europe is a subsidiary of Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), the asset management arm of Allianz Group. Allianz is also one of the world’s top five asset management groups.
Allianz Global Investors Europe undertakes portfolio management, investment advisory and brokerage services. The Bahrain office of the firm will develop and service the firm’s institutional client base throughout the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region.
The licence for AllianzGI Europe is the third to be granted by the CBB to Allianz Group. In 2007, the group established Allianz Takaful (Bahrain), the Islamic insurance arm of Allianz. Later the same year, the group established Allianz MENA Holding Company as an Ancillary Service Provider in Bahrain. The new firm is the group’s central office, which monitors, supports, guides and controls the various insurance operations of Allianz in the Indian Subcontinent and MENA region.
“The CBB is delighted to welcome another Allianz subsidiary to Bahrain,” says Ahmed Abdul Aziz Al Bassam, director, Licensing & Policy, CBB.
The demand for wealth management services is soaring in the region, he pointed out. According to a new report from McKinsey Global Institute, the GCC states will have $3.5 trillion to invest abroad between now and 2020, nearly twice their current foreign wealth. The report estimates that the six GCC countries held foreign assets worth about $1.9 trillion at the end of 2006. That was more than double the 2003 figure and nearly equal to the combined size of the Brazilian and Indian economies, or the market value of the top 10 Fortune 500 companies.
Bahrain provides an excellent operational base for institutions such as AllianzGI Europe, to tap the robust regional demand for asset management services, said Al Bassam.
He pointed to the new regulations on collective investment undertakings (CIUs), which were introduced by the CBB last year. The comprehensive CIU framework provides for the full range of investment funds catering to various categories of investors and includes Bahrain’s first-ever rules allowing CIUs targeting professional investors.
“Asset managers based in Bahrain can now offer a much more diversified range of CIUs, including hedge funds, derivatives and other alternative investment vehicles, which can be domiciled and offered in Bahrain,” says Al Bassam.
Bahrain has, since the 1970s, played host to many international and regional asset managers and investment and private banks, he pointed out.
“While Allianz Global Investors already has developed a strong client base in the MENA region, it is committed to foster its strategic aspiration through establishing a local presence operating from its regional office in Bahrain. It is also committed to offer conventional and Shari’a compliant products to reflect the specific demand, needs and culture of the region,” adds Sami Zghal, chief representative officer and head of business development, MENA, at AllianzGI Europe.