Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain –May- 24, 2009 – The long-term prospects for the regional asset management industry remain positive, according to Securities & Investment Company (SICO), the Bahrain-based regionally-focused investment bank.

SICO believes the increasing number of funds being rated by independent institutions such as Standard & Poor’s is helping to grow the regional asset management industry.  Ratings by independent agencies offer greater transparency to investors, as well as help in creating a performance benchmark.  Performance information made available by ratings agencies also enables domestic, regional and international investors to understand the investment style and process of different fund managers, and help them in finding managers that best fit their investment profile. 

SICO’s own funds have been awarded either AA or A ratings by Standard & Poor’s based on stable and superior risk adjusted returns. .  Their performance has been driven by insight generated by SICO’s focus on quality and disciplined investment approach. In fact out of the five funds ranked as AA (the highest ranking attained by GCC focused fund managers by S&P), two are managed by SICO.

The full press release in English & Arabic can be downloaded here .