UAE financial services firm GII targets $1bn growth in assets in 2021

GII’s current investments in the UAE include companies in the logistics, ghost kitchen and e-commerce sectors, among others.

Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), the UAE-based Shari’ah-compliant financial services major, has set a target of increasing its assets under management (AUM) by $1 billion this year.

This would represent a 50 percent jump from the current level of $2 billion that GII has under management worldwide as it seeks investment opportunities in the wake of a global economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.

The company also said it is also planning an investment of $300 million in the logistics and warehousing real estate sector in the Middle East region this year as part of a consortium with an institutional investor.

Mohammed Alhassan, founding partner and co-CEO of Gulf Islamic Investments.

“GII has set a target of reaching $3 billion assets under management by end of this year,” Mohammed Alhassan, founding partner and co-CEO of Gulf Islamic Investments, told Arabian Business in an exclusive interview.

As for its investment plans in the UAE and larger GCC region, Alhassan said: “GII is a big believer in the UAE and the GCC markets and remains vigilant about exponential opportunities in the region.”

“GII continues to see a substantial number of quality deals in our regional pipeline. Prospective deals on the horizon include a variety of segments including logistics, healthcare, new technology companies, consumer businesses, private equity and real estate, to name a few,” he said.

GII’s current investments in the UAE include companies in the logistics, ghost kitchen and e-commerce sectors, among others.

GII also planning an investment of $300 million in the logistics and warehousing real estate sector in the Middle East region this year

Its global portfolio includes over $30 million investment in the Silicon Valley-based zSpace, a virtual reality company in the education and training space globally.

GII’s AUM growth announcement follows its move to launch a $50 million second India-focused fund – India Growth Portfolio II (IGP-II) – to aggressively expand its investments in companies across sectors in the south Asian country.

Alhassan said logistics and warehousing investment opportunities provide a sustainable long term income generating opportunity that provides a steady quarterly coupon for GII’s investors.

He also revealed GII’s upcoming plans for a major investment into this segment.

$50m India-focused fund to be launched by UAE financial major

“Requirement for high quality and well-located logistics and warehousing real estate is a vital component for the overall business model of global and regional MNC’s, which makes this business very attractive. This is constantly evolving and growing towards being a more asset light model,” the GII co-founder said.

He said that with e-commerce retail sales only making up about 5 percent in GCC compared to close to 15 percent in developed countries, the demand for these assets is bound to see an increase going forward.

“We believe investments in the logistics and warehousing real estate will be a winning bet in view of the increasing demand for industrial and logistics assets driven by the tech and e-commerce industry, as also due to the emerging global corporate trend towards asset light business models.

“Besides, this will also add value to the GII portfolio through efficient diversification and risk management,” he said.

Increasing demand for industrial and logistics assets driven by the tech and e-commerce industry.Ghost kitchen segment

Alhassan said the ghost kitchen sector is another segment which GII will be betting big on for boosting its returns.

A ghost kitchen is a professional food preparation and cooking facility set up for the preparation of delivery-only meals.

Although GII has been active in the sector since 2019, it formally ventured into operations in 2020 as a captive unit.

“We are among the pioneers in this industry with an early mover advantage, and among the handful of players with established presence and track record of having successfully rolled out eight ghost kitchen brands.

A ghost kitchen is a professional food preparation and cooking facility set up for the preparation of delivery-only meals.

“Our robust existing infrastructure and know-how to support expansion strategy through efficient operations and key focus on unit economics gives us strong potential to scale and to reach a wider customer base across the key GCC markets,” Alhassan said.

The ghost kitchen sector is currently one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

The UAE and the wider Middle East are among the fastest growing food delivery regions in the world, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 30 percent as against 9.5 percent globally.