Fund manager GQG has amassed a $2.8bn holding in companies in the Middle East and expects to raise this further, while it has cut its position in China to around half that level.
The Florida-based asset manager founded by Rajiv Jain, previously a star fund manager at Vontobel Asset Management, has built up the bet over the past 18 months, spurred on by the “business friendly” approaches of governments in the region and their plans to diversify away from a reliance on oil.
“There are massive privatisation hopes which by definition will open up the economy,” said Jain, whose firm manages $105bn in assets and is well known for a large contrarian bet it took last year on Indian conglomerate Adani. “There’s a real intention to open up and transition away from oil.”