The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has authorised, during February 2007, six new mutual funds, sponsored by financial institutions in Bahrain and the region. The newly-authorised funds, all of which are domiciled in Bahrain, are: Enhanced Oil Fund 1 and Enhanced Oil Fund 2; Gulfinvest Gulf Fund; Al Safat GCC Real Estate Fund; Capital Investment Balanced Fund; and Oasis Real Estate Development Fund. With the new authorizations, the number of locally-incorporated funds registered with the CBB has crossed the 100 mark.
“Mutual funds have become a fast growing segment of Bahrain’s financial services industry,” says Mohammed Ayman Al Tajer, Director, Financial Institutions Supervision, at the CBB. “As regional wealth increasingly looks for new investment opportunities, we expect to see continued expansion of the mutual funds industry, in general, and of the locally-incorporated funds segment, in particular.”