Daman Investments, one of the leading UAE-based regional investment management companies, has announced another year of exceptional performance by its local and regional equity funds during 2011.

The top performing fund was the Daman Second Emirates fund which ended the year with a gain of 4.9 per cent net of all fees, the company said in a statement.

The scale of the outperformance was particularly stark when compared against the representative Esca index which lost -12 per cent or NBAD General index which was down -7 per cent for the year.

The fund also paid out a record eighth consecutive quarterly dividend of Dh1 for the fourth quarter, bringing the total dividend paid out for the year to Dh3.75.

The second best performing fund was the Daman Fifth Fund, which is a GCC centric fund, ending the year up with over 3.7 per cent and again beating its respective peer group.

The other two funds namely the Daman Islamic fund were down 4 per cent and the Daman Speculator Fund was down 10 per cent.

Commenting on the performance, Shehab Gargash, the CEO of Daman Investments said, “We continue to build a proven track record in delivering strong and consistent returns in times of market instability by focusing on our core expertise in asset management.”

'Daman’s Funds are managed along strategic and tactical asset allocation lines to ensure optimal diversification amongst securities in order to achieve a higher risk adjusted return with relatively low volatility,' he stated.

Shehzad Janab, the head of Asset Management & Advisory, said, “We continue to believe that the GCC equity markets offer exceptional value to the patient investor. The second half of 2012 could mark a recovery in investor appetite.'

Negative sentiments, he said, should ease following a denouement to the euro sovereign debt crises.

'The robust outlook for oil prices will continue to generate enough thrust to sustain the positive growth momentum within the GCC which will translate in strong earnings growth in 2012,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service