QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment group, has fully acquired Ergo Portfoy, one of the largest and fastest-growing Shariah-principled asset management companies in Turkey.
With this 100% acquisition, QInvest Asset Management will have assets under management close to $1bn.
The Turkish entity has been rebranded as ‘QInvest  Portfoy’ and is a subsidiary of Qatar’s QInvest. However, the size of the deal was not disclosed.
The senior management of QInvest Portfoy will remain with the firm and will be led by Murat Vanli, the general manager of Ergo Portfoy, and will continue to operate from Istanbul. The company has been granted its licence to operate by the Capital Markets Board of Turkey and is licensed to offer portfolio management to both individual and institutional investors.
“The acquisition of Ergo Portfoy and the launch of QInvest Portfoy marks a very significant moment for QInvest. It is in line with our long-term strategy of developing our asset management division, as one of the three key business lines within QInvest, and it is an important milestone in our mission to maintain our position as a leading global Islamic investment institution,” QInvest chief executive Tamim Hamad al-Kawari said.
QInvest Portfoy is one of the leading asset management groups in Turkey with over 1.5bn Turkish Liras in assets under management, providing pension and mutual fund and discretionary portfolio management services.
Dr Ataf Ahmed, managing director and head of Asset Management, said the launch of QInvest Portfoy will accelerate QInvest’s current growth strategy and position it as one of the leading global Islamic asset management groups. “We believe that Turkey is and will continue to be an important hub in the Islamic financial services market,” he said, adding within just three years, QInvest Asset Management has grown its assets under management to just under $1bn and this expanded capability positions it even more strongly for future growth.
The launch of QInvest Portfoy will increase QInvest’s commitment to the fast-growing Turkish market and follows the establishment of QInvest’s representative office in Turkey in 2011. Since then, QInvest has been active in the Turkish market mainly focusing on external financing transactions.
“We think that Turkey offers compelling investment opportunities and we have been building our brand and expertise in this market for some years. The acquisition of Ergo Portfoy, and launch of QInvest Portfoy widens and deepens the expertise which we can bring to the Turkish market and will also allow us to facilitate an increased flow of business between Turkey, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and global markets,” al-Kawari said.
Earlier in 2015, Ergo Portfoy set up an umbrella Islamic fund and launched a global sukuk fund, branded as QInvest Sukuk Fonu, which is being advised by QInvest Asset Management. QInvest Sukuk Fonu is traded on TEFAS, the electronic fund platform in Turkey, and attracts both institutional and individual Turkish investors willing to have access to international Islamic fixed income instruments.
With the acquisition, the umbrella fund will serve as a platform to introduce other Islamic funds with strategies, already employed by QInvest Asset Management in its international funds and contribute to the growth of the Islamic finance market in Turkey, QInvest said.
“The combination of these two businesses will allow us to make the most of the support and additional resources that QInvest can provide. Our existing clients will continue to be serviced by the same team, but will now also benefit from the greater access that the combined business will provide,” Vanli said.