Waha MENA Equity Fund Rises to Top 10 in Global Hedge Funds

Abu Dhabi, UAE, 01 November 2023 – Abu Dhabi-based investment management company Waha Capital PJSC (ADX: WAHA) has reinforced its standing as one of the region’s premier asset managers, with its flagship Waha MENA Equity Fund ranked in the world’s top 10 hedge funds by this year’s Global Investment Report.

Managed by Waha Investment, the capital markets business of Waha Capital, the Waha MENA Equity Fund has featured for five consecutive years in “The World’s top 50 Hedge Funds” list published by the independent Global Investment Report. This year, the fund jumped five places to rank 10th and was the only hedge fund managed from the MENA region to feature in the global ranking. The fund is also ranked 1st through the first six months of the year 2023 in the same ranking.

Waha MENA Equity Fund, an absolute long/short fund has sustained robust performance, and produced a cumulative return of 333.0% (as of 30 September 2023) since inception in 2014, equivalent to an annualised net rate of return of 16.2%. In comparison, the reference S&P Pan Arab Composite Index has provided a cumulative return of 60.8% equivalent to an annualised rate of return of 5.0% in the same timeframe.  

Mohamed Al Nowais, Managing Director for Waha Capital: "The Waha MENA Equity Fund breaking into the top 10 global hedge funds is a testament to our commitment to delivering exceptional results. Standing out as the only hedge fund based in the MENA region included in this prestigious ranking, firmly establishes us as a premier asset manager in the region. The consistent outperformance of Waha Capital’s flagship funds is being recognised by the industry and, importantly, by international institutional and high net worth investors resulting in inflows of over AED 2.0 billion in third-party capital to date. We look forward to bringing new offerings to the market in the coming years and building on an outstanding performance track record."

Mohamed El Jamal, Chief Investment Officer for Waha Investment and Lead Portfolio Manager of the Waha MENA Equity Fund: “Being recognised amongst the top 10 hedge funds globally, is the culmination of a decade-long process in building and growing our asset management platform. In a world where Alpha delivery is becoming scarce, we delivered consistent outperformance to our investors throughout the last decade. We are delighted to see the dedication of our teams being distinguished once again, and we remain resolute in our pursuit to become the asset manager of choice in emerging markets. We share and celebrate this award with our long-standing investors, our entire team, as well as the broader Abu Dhabi community. While the current Macro set-up remains filled with uncertainties, we continue to be focused on perfecting our investment process and raising the performance bar even further for the coming decade!’’

Waha Investment, which has over US$2 billion of assets under management, has also achieved significant outperformance in its other flagship funds, the Waha Emerging Markets Credit Fund and the Waha Islamic Income Fund, which have produced cumulative returns of 190.6% and 19.6% (gross of fees) respectively (as of 30 September 2023).

This year’s Global Investment Report is the 20th independent annual report to be published by the veteran New York-based financial analyst, Eric Uhlfelder. Based on a survey tracking key data points of hedge funds over a trailing five-year period and since inception, the survey determines which funds produce the most consistent absolute risk-adjusted returns. The funds featured in the survey are required to manage at least US$300 million to ensure reliability of the data, while filtering out highly volatile funds in favour of superior long-term strategies.

The survey has previously been commissioned by The Financial Times, Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal, and SALT. Other hedge funds recognised in this year’s survey were Citadel Wellington (Miami), Haidar Jupiter Composite (New York), Millenium USA LP (New York) and DE Shaw Oculus (New York).