HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan officially supports the forum

Abu Dhabi, UAE. – 20th February 2010 – A host of leading local and international industry experts are expected to speak at The Global Logistics Forum to be held on new dates 15th and 16th March, 2010, at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahar, Abu Dhabi, who will address the growing demand for logistics services and infrastructure in the Middle East.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Rulers Representative in the Western Region, the forum aims to bridge the gap between the global supply chain industry and the regional logistics sector. The forum organised by Aim, the Events Management Division of Abu Dhabi University, will also discuss subjects related to customising local requirements of infrastructure projects, and the development of the global logistic services in the Middle East region

According to the International Logistics Performance Index’s cross-country comparison, the UAE presently ranks the highest in the region in terms of performance within the logistics and supply chain industry, marking 3.63% growth during 2009. Bahrain follows in second place at 3.37%, and Kuwait comes third at 3.28%.

“With the outbreak of developmental projects in the tertiary sector, there is now, more than ever, a need to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, risks, and success factors from a local and global point of view,” said James Graham, General Manager, Aim.  “The Global Logistics Forum is an ideal platform for the integration of ideas from the best minds in the industry, and it paves the way for not only the conception of innovative solutions in logistics, but also ensures that these are brought to reality.

“The speakers at this year’s Global Logistics Forum will collectively bring a wealth of knowledge and understanding about ever-changing strategies within the logistics industry, and attendees will benefit from their shared insight on what is required not only to fulfil the objectives of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, but also to succeed in the global market,” Graham added.

Resulting from a long-term strategic partnership between the Abu Dhabi University and the Berlin Institute of Technology (TU-Berlin) Chair of Logistics, an internationally renowned university in Germany, the Global Logistics Forum is a step towards the development of a long term, high quality programme of courses, events and knowledge transfer within the field of supply chain logistics.

Among the main speakers is Mohamed Al Shamsi, Port Unit Vice President, Abu Dhabi Ports Company, who will discuss the future of the country’s logistics industry in parallel with the objectives of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, and Professor Dr. Stephan Reimelt, Chief Executive Officer, IPIC Ferrostaal Contracting, and member of the Executive Board, MAN

Ferrostaal AG will provide an understanding of the factors that bring success to local projects run by global players at the forum.

Meanwhile, Professor Dr. Eng. Frank Straube, member of the Management Board of the European Logistics Association, will account the varying global logistics strategies within different sectors and industries, and their resulting impact on the global logistics industry. On the other hand, Peter Glatz, Chief Executive Officer, Schenker Middle East, is set to highlight the challenges, potential developments, customer requirements and the success factors for global business developers in the logistics industry in the Middle East.

The two-day event, which was to be originally hosted on 8th and 9th February, 2010, has been postponed to meet the requirements reflected by the growing level of interest in the forum. It will also include three interactive workshops involving various visits to significant infrastructure locations and logistics service providers, as well as provide an ample opportunity for networking with the brains of the industry from the region and from around the world. The forum will bring together global supply chain leaders, logistics managers and the local and international policy makers from the local and global logistics industry. 

Furthermore, speaking about how the Middle East can support and benefit from the success of global companies’ supply chain is Professor Dr. Hans-Christian Pfohl, Technische Universität Darmstadt, and member of the Board of the European Logistics Association. Discussing the impediments of growth in the Middle East will be Frederic Hendrick, Chairman of the Management Board of the French Logistics Association (ASLOG), Alstom. Professor Lauri Ojala, Research and Education Turku School of Economics, Finland, will talk about the methodology of the Logistics Performance index and what the “best” countries do differently.

The forum is supported by the Institute for Vocational Development, a member of the Abu Dhabi University Knowledge Group; The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport; and German Logistics Association. For more information about the event, please visit www.globallogisticsforum.com.

• Innovative fund-of-funds up more than 41 per cent for full year; one of top-performing commodity funds among all funds-of-hedge-funds and Shariah-compliant funds-of-funds
• Gold Fund receives ‘Outstanding Performance & Innovation Award’ from MENA Fund Manager; fund up nearly 68 per cent in 2009
• Global Resources and Mining Fund up 55 per cent; Energy Fund up 41 per cent; Natural Resources Fund records nominal gains

DSAM Kauthar Commodity Funds record industry leading growth in 2009

Dubai, January 26, 2010: Highlighting the sound underlying investment strategy of its fund managers and innovative product development strategy, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCCA) announced today that its Shariah-compliant Dubai Shariah Asset Management (DSAM) Kauthar Commodity Funds recorded industry leading gains in the 12 months ending December 31, 2009.

The DSAM Kauthar Commodity Fund (DKCF), an equally-weighted fund-of-funds comprised of four single-strategy, commodity-focused funds that invest exclusively in Shariah-compliant long/short equity hedge funds on the Al Safi Trust platform, was up 41 per cent at the end of last year. During the same period, DKCF managers returned roughly double the average return of their equity and commodity benchmarks. The fund-of-funds total assets under management stood at US$250.1 million as of December 31, 2009.

In 2009, the DKCF was one of the top-performing commodity funds among fund-of-hedge funds globally, based on Bloomberg and Eurekahedge data.  DKCF ranked in the 99th percentile of the Bloomberg Active Index for Islamic Funds as well as the 99th percentile of the Eurekahedge Fund of Funds Index.  Indeed, excluding funds with less than US$100 million in assets, the DKCF is the top-performing commodity fund-of-funds and the leading Shariah-compliant fund-of-funds, according to hedgefund.net. 

The Al Safi Trust is a comprehensive Shariah-compliant platform designed specifically for hedge funds and launched by Barclays Capital and Shariah Capital.  Distributed under the DSAM Kauthar label, the four funds underlying the index have been seeded with US$50 million each by DMCCA.

In addition, DMCCA announced today that its DSAM Kauthar Gold Fund, one of four funds distributed under the DSAM Kauthar label, has received the “Outstanding Performance & Innovation Award” from MENA Fund Manager, the region’s leading industry title.

For the full year 2009, the gold fund was up nearly 68 per cent, ranking #1 out of 344 Islamic funds followed by Eurekahedge, representing all investment strategies and markets from around the world. The DSAM Kauthar Gold Fund also ranked first globally out of 673 hedge funds with between US$50-250 million in assets under management, according to HedgeFund.net. 

The DSAM Kauthar Global Resources & Mining Fund, which recorded gains of more than 55 per cent in 2009, is ranked in the 99th percentile of the Reuters Lipper TASS Energy Index, putting it in the top 10 of 2,150 funds reporting to Lipper. Meanwhile, the DSAM Kauthar Energy Fund was up 41 per cent as of December 31, 2009. Finally, the DSAM Kauthar Natural Resources Fund was up slightly more than three per cent at the end of the same period.
 
“At DMCCA, we are committed to supporting the expansion of the Islamic financial services sector, and our innovative DSAM Kauthar Funds represent the future for that high-growth sector,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCCA. “We are aware that these relatively new products were launched during a global downturn, and recognise that investors are now understandably conservative in their approach. Therefore, we will continue to focus on educating the market, highlighting to investors the sterling performance of the funds and underscoring their long-term appeal.”

“The award-winning performance of the DSAM Kauthar Gold Fund as well as the exceptional gains recorded by the DSAM Kauthar Global Resources & Mining Fund and Energy Fund place them at the top of worldwide indices,” said Malcolm Wall Morris, Chief Executive Officer, DMCCA. “These cutting-edge, Shariah-complaint alternative investment products have been specifically developed to meet the needs of regional investors, while also appealing to conventional institutional investors. Based on past performance, we are confident that we will continue to expand and diversify our client base in 2010.”

“The strength of our fund managers, who were selected on the basis of their outstanding track record in commodities over the past two decades, is clearly second to none,” added Eric Meyer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Shariah Capital. “Each of the partners involved in the development and marketing of these exceptional products is extremely proud of our success in 2009, and we look forward to sustaining our performance in the 12 months to come.”

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