50 MENA companies meet international investors at HSBC MENA Investment forum

The third HSBC MENA Investor Forum saw companies presenting over three days to more than 120 individuals from investment managers, fund managers, hedge funds and pension funds from around the world.

HSBC, which arranged the event, is the leading equities house in the region, with operations covering research, sales, trading, brokerage, custody, funds, and investment operations across the Middle East and North Africa.

The event comprises fifty companies from Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Oman giving behind-closed-doors equity presentations to institutional investors from Europe, Asia, and the USA, as well as MENA-based investors. The combined market capitalization of the companies stood at around $250bn on 1st October.

In his opening speech to the conference, Simon Cooper, Regional CEO of HSBC Middle East, summed up the mood of the bank:

"HSBC retains a very positive view of the MENA region, its prospects, its macro-economic outlook, and the ability of regional companies and businesses to emerge from the crisis. What is particularly satisfying is that investor appetite for the region is returning after the turmoil of the international markets of the past twelve months."

"The Middle East is recognized as a very attractive market. Well-managed companies, operating in a region of strong business growth, combined with a highly positive macro-economic background have combined to make these company stocks very attractive to international institutions."

HSBC is by some way the most comprehensive participant in the Middle East's equity capital markets: From custody and clearing, where it has a unique footprint in eleven regional markets; through sales, trading and execution, where it was the first international bank to become members of the ADX and DFM, and in which it enjoys a substantial market share in every exchange across the region; to research and advisory, where HSBC is the leading IPO adviser in the region, and to its award-winning equity research team, which is consistently rated best in the region.

"This is a great example of what HSBC can do in emerging markets: to use our unique regional equities business franchise to act as a bridge between the Middle East and the rest of the world," added Cooper.