Zawya – Hedge funds focusing exclusively on the Middle East and North Africa have seen a 10-fold increase in assets under management over the past five years, with futher gains of about 17 per cent through the first half of 2009, according to Hedge Fund Research, a provider of hedge fund industry data.
The Middle East and North Africa region, also known as MENA, is the smallest emerging market in terms of dedicated capital. It currently has more than 20 hedge funds that account for 1.52 per cent, or $1.17 billion, of the $77 billion in total assets invested in emerging markets worldwide, Hedge Fund Research, or HFR, said in a statement on Wednesday.
