Worlds Largest Hedge Fund Manager BGI Opens Dubai Office

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has opened an office in the United Arab Emirates' Dubai International Finance Centre. BGI has been active in the region since 1998 and currently has assets under management of US$ 28 billion in area.

The office, which is co-located with Barclays Wealth and Barclays Capital, will principally address the growing needs of the region's institutions - including Government sponsored pension and social security funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), Central Banks and High Net Worth individuals and families.

"The new office is a strategic development for BGI's Middle Eastern business relationships." David Semaya, Chief Executive, Barclays Global Investors Europe & Asia, said, "We are seeing investors in the region becoming more demanding in their investment strategies."

BGI's iShares, including its three recently launched Sharia'ah compliant funds, will primarily address the retail market. Islamic finance is a $400bn industry, growing at a rate of over 15% per annum.

BGI is the world's largest asset manager with over $2.0 trillion in assets under management. BGI's funds include hedge funds and fund of funds as well as index and active equities and bonds funds.