National Commercial Bank wins three Islamic fund awards

The AlAhli Family of Funds' net asset value reached over SR33 billion recently and was recognized by Failaka International, an independent Islamic fund research and analysis institution, as the "Best Islamic Fund Family" for 2005. Over the past 26 years, the AlAhli Family of Funds' including equities, balanced and income funds grew richer and more diversified to meet the needs and requirements of the various investors in the Kingdom based on their risk profiles.

"NCB is one of the leading providers of Islamic mutual funds in the Kingdom and we continue to offer our clients the most innovative Shariah-compliant funds available. We are honored to receive these awards from one of the industry's leading independent monitoring organizations,"

said Ahmed Farid the Head of Asset Management at the bank.

Failaka International named the AlAhli Saudi Dynamic Trading Equity Fund, launched in April 2005, the "Most Innovative Islamic Fund in 2005". The fund is the only open-ended Shariah-compliant fund in the region that offers investors exposure to the upside of the stock-market in the Kingdom while using defensive portfolio management techniques to limit the downside.

In addition, Failaka International's "Best Islamic European Equity Fund" was handed to the National Commercial Bank for the performance of its AlAhli Europe Trading Equity Fund which achieved substantial returns for its investors during last year.

Tariq Al Rifai, the president for Failaka International Inc. commented, "We have conducted the most comprehensive research on Islamic equity funds during 2005 and awarded NCB the three awards due to the funds' outstanding performance and the returns generated throughout the year".

NCB was the first Saudi Arabian bank to introduce mutual funds in the Kingdom in 1979 and remains the leader of the industry because of its extensive experience and expertise in the field. The bank is acknowledged internationally as the pioneer and innovator in Islamic Shariah-compliant mutual funds. This achievement was recognized when NCB was awarded the Euromoney International Award for the Best Islamic Asset Management House for two consecutive years in 2003 and 2004.