Doha, Qatar – 19 February, 2017:  The First Investor (TFI), the leading Qatari Islamic investment banking firm, a subsidiary of Barwa Bank Group, has been awarded the “Best GCC Equity Fund” for its flagship product “The First Investor GCC Equity Opportunities Fund (Q)”. The award was announced at the “MENA Fund Manager Performance Awards” held in the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai.

The award winning fund was launched in October 2012 with around QAR100m in assets under management, having an open-ended collective investment scheme and registered under the Laws of Qatar. The Fund was founded by Barwa Bank and managed by The First Investor. Since inception, the fund is up by an impressive c.28.2% as compared to the benchmark “Bloomberg GCC200 Index” 15.1% over the same period.

MENA Fund Manager Performance Awards recognizes and rewards funds and asset managers that have outperformed their peers over the past 12 months. The honors are determined by a rigorous process with an evaluating panel carefully selected from the industry's leading independent market experts.

TFI said in a statement: “The MENA Fund Manager Performance Award is a testament to our relentless efforts to provide our customers and clients profitable investment funds and products. The persisting efforts of our asset management team will continue to achieve higher performance, and bring to bear the highest award ‘our customers trust’.”

Maintaining their rank atop regional players not only reflects TFI’s team ability to maintain focus, but also their talent in continuously refining investment themes that generate superior returns for a diverse client base, all while widening their investable opportunities.