March 7th 2007

DUBAI, UAE – Rasmala Investments, a regional Investment Bank, celebrated its win in the first Hedge Funds World Middle East Awards Ceremony which was a part of the eighth annual Hedge Funds World Middle East Conference.

Rasmala, which made the finalist lists in two categories, won the award for the Newcomer of the Year. Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) won the second category for which Rasmala had been nominated : Special Merit Award for Outstanding Industry Contribution.

All categories are awarded based on the decision of an independent panel of expert judges who ranged from investment consultants to financial journalists and professors. The award is given in recognition of the nominee’s efforts over the past year in terms of the breadth of its Funds offering, the quality of its Funds management, and the local management and local delivery of its Funds range.

Mr. Eric Swats, Partner at Rasmala said: “We are excited to receive this award and be part of the first HFW Middle East Awards. Such awards encourage innovation and endorse competition. They offer a challenge to improve the offerings of hedge funds in the Middle East and promote fund management in general in the region.”

Rasmala has launched five funds over the past 18 months, all of which employ alternative investment strategies. Rasmala’s flagship fund, The Rasmala Hedge Fund Strategies Fund, utilises a dynamic multi-manager, multi-country and multi-strategy approach in order to capture the upside in the market while remaining protected on the downside, and it aims to achieve an optimal level of strategy, country and manager diversification while seeking capital appreciation with low volatility. Among Rasmala’s other Funds is The Rasmala Global Equity Opportunity Fund which utilises a similar investment approach and is focused on the global equity markets, and The Rasmala MENA Equity Opportunity Fund which provides regional investors with an innovative approach to market and manager diversification, as well as providing international investors with broad access to the region’s equity markets. Rasmala also offers Sharia Compliant versions of its Funds allowing Sharia Compliant investors access to the same successful investment approach.

“The success of our investment management approach rests on 4 activities that work together to produce the foundation for a fail-proof structure. These are manager selection, dynamic strategy allocation, diversification, and risk management,” Mr. Swats added.

He continued: “Rasmala is planning several more product launches over the next few months to continue providing high quality access to regional and global markets to their investors.”