Nusseibeh: Looking for long-term partnerships with businesses in Qatar.
UK-based Hermes Fund Managers is eyeing long-term partnerships with businesses in Qatar both as asset managers and investors and also currently exploring ways to raise funds from the wider Gulf region.
Hermes is also of the view that shale gas development in the US may not affect Qatar “negatively”, instead it could prove to be beneficial for Qatar’s gas due to expansion in the US economy and thus to the world economy.
“Hermes is looking to partner over the long term with businesses in Qatar, both as asset managers, and where appropriate, as investors,” London-based CEO Saker Nusseibeh told Gulf Times in an exclusive interview.
Although it does not have any plan for now to open an office here, he said Hermes would be inclined to use Qatar has a hub for its wider Gulf Co-operation Council and Middle East operations.
To a query whether he expect any threat to Qatar in the wake of shale gas development in the US, he said it should not affect Qatar negatively as this additional capacity in the US would be domestically oriented.
“It is likely to boost US gross domestic product growth further, which would in turn fuel world GDP growth, thus increasing demand for Qatar’s gas,” he said.
QNB chief economist Joanes Mongardini had earlier said he did not foresee any impact for the time being from the US shale gas development as the drop in demand from the US, however, has been replaced by strong Asian demand, particularly from Japan after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.
Nusseibeh was in Qatar to address a seminar sponsored by CFA Institute where he talked about transparency and fairness in financial markets, with a particular focus on minority shareholder protection, financial reporting and disclosure.
Asked about its strategy towards the region, he said Hermes has invested in equities and commodities in the Middle East and North Africa region and will continue to do so, but did not quantify the investments.
“The clear play is infrastructure and consumer, although with time, trade-related activity will feed into the Gulf acting as a hub for the wider region,” he said, highlighting the potential areas in the region.
Asked whether Hermes is open to sourcing funds from the Gulf and Middle East, he said “we are looking at ways to raise funds form the region.”
“What we are looking to do is not simply to raise assets but more importantly build long-term partnerships where we can serve our clients as we have done with our owners and main investors in the BT pension scheme,” he said.
He said Hermes’ heritage is based on three principles: excellence as reflected in outstanding performance; responsibility as reflected in the long-term nature of investment profile and complete alignment with clients and innovation as reflected in acknowledged market leadership.
