Greenstone Equity Partners and Charlemagne Capital join forces to attract investors for Magna MENA Fund

Jeddah, April 22, 2015: Greenstone Equity Partners, one of the largest independent fund placement firms in the Middle East, announced its collaboration with London-based Charlemagne Capital, a $2.2 billion Emerging Markets specialist group. Charlemagne is currently raising capital for the Magna MENA Fund, a sub-fund of Charlemagne Capital’s Magna Umbrella Fund Plc, which invests in a diversified portfolio of MENA securities.

Launched in February 2011, the Magna MENA fund is focused on companies operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and North Africa, such as Egypt. The fund has consistently delivered an impressive performance with an annualized return of 36% over the last three years. Magna MENA generated 201% total return as of February 2015, outperforming the S&P Pan Arab Composite Index by 138%. 

In January 2015, Magna MENA fund was presented with the Best MENA Fund Manager Performance Awards 2015 in the category of MENA Equity Fund <$50 million. Charlemagne Capital was also awarded the 2015 Lipper Award for the Best Fund Group over Three Years in the “Equity-Small” category of the Lipper Awards for each of Switzerland, Germany, Austria and pan Europe.

“We are excited to collaborate with Charlemagne Capital due to their great reputation in delivering outstanding results to investors. Their team of investment professionals is thorough and knowledgeable, and with directors and employees owning 40 per cent of the business, they are uniquely passionate about creating success,” said Omar Al-Gharabally, President of Greenstone Equity Partners. “With this relationship, we are confident that we are introducing solid investment opportunities to our clients, driven primarily by the region’s potential to generate superior economic growth over the longer term.” 

“At Charlemagne Capital, we invest in emerging markets and manage global and regional mandates that aim to deliver attractive and consistent long-term returns,” said Jayne Sutcliffe, Chief Executive of Charlemagne Capital. “The MENA region has been an important source of capital flows and wealth accumulation, and with increased liquidity, local and international investors are becoming keenly aware of the opportunities MENA equities can offer. With Greenstone Equity Partners’ thorough market knowledge and strong relationships, we believe that this collaboration will be a great asset to our operations,” she added.  

Charlemagne Capital
Charlemagne Capital is an independent asset management group, with a team of dedicated investment professionals at its heart providing a range of investment strategies in emerging and frontier markets, with a focus on equities.

Charlemagne Capital combines the spirit and vision of an entrepreneurial firm with the analytical rigor and comprehensive operational structure of a larger institution. 

Charlemagne Capital was established in 2000; with its shares traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London since 2006. Charlemagne personnel own approximately 40% of the issued share capital of the company.

Greenstone Equity Partners 
Greenstone Equity Partners is a MENA-focused boutique investment and advisory firm specializing in multi-sector, advisory, fund placement, investment, consulting and deal structuring transactions. Based in Dubai, Greenstone's primary areas of focus are: 

•    Fund Placement
•    Investment Advisory

Greenstone provides its clients with advisory services and access to MENA-based sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors and family offices for primary and secondary placements. Greenstone places a strong emphasis on the geographical capital diversification needs of its MENA-based clients. Greenstone is generally engaged as a sole and exclusive MENA fund placement firm by global top quartile investment banks, asset managers and fund managers from both developed and developing markets.