ADFG launches $200m fund on Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone

Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG), on Tuesday launched a $200m fund to invest in Gulf equities, the first fund on the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

ADGM, the emirate’s financial free zone, allows fund managers to set up funds for all types of investors.

Some 170 local and international companies have been licensed to operate at ADGM since it opened in October last year.

Privately owned ADFG, which currently has $4.7bn in assets under management, has invested in real estate in London and Eastern Europe and is targeting undervalued opportunities in Gulf markets through its Goldilocks Fund, Chief Executive Jassim Alseddiqi said.

“The fund provides access to investors providing a pioneering investment strategy called ‘constructive activism’,” he said.

Constructive activism, a new concept in the gulf region means investors take a minority stake in companies and help them to restructure and develop their businesses, he said.

Over the last year, ADFG’s capital markets arm, Integrated Capital, has invested in a similar strategy, delivering returns of more than 120 per cent, he added.