National Bank of Kuwait S.A.K. launches the Watani U.S. Real Estate Income & Growth Fund

The investment objective of the Fund is to seek current income and capital appreciation from a portfolio of investments in U.S. real estate while preserving capital.

Mr. George Nasra, General Manager of Investment Banking, Asset Management and Treasury Group at NBK explained that the Fund is a long-term investment vehicle designed to achieve an expected IRR between 11-14% per annum including quarterly cash distributions between 8-10% after the end of the Investment Period. The Fund is a medium risk vehicle, denominated in US Dollars and is suitable for investors with a long-term investment horizon who are seeking quarterly income with the possibility of capital appreciation.

Mr. George Nasra added that the Fund will pursue its objective by investing in a well-diversified portfolio of Direct Real Estate Investments such as office, industrial, retail and multi-family sectors. Furthermore, the U.S. economic growth has been resilient in 2003 and is expected to continue its upward momentum in the years to come, helping to boost the performance of the U.S. real estate market."

J.P. Morgan Bank, the investment advisor of the Fund, is considered to be one of the leading real estate investment managers in the world with a total of US$26 billion in combined real estate investments under management and over 30 years of experience in managing real estate in the United States of America.

The initial subscription period started yesterday, March 14th 2004 and will continue until April 1st 2004. The minimum investment amount in the Fund is US$500,000 with additional amounts in multiples of US$10,000. Investors may subscribe into the Fund on a quarterly basis and after a 3-year initial lock-up period may redeem on a semi-annual basis at the prevailing Net Asset Value on a best effort basis.