QInvest, one of the Gulf region’s most prominent Islamic financial institutions, has earned about 15% internal rate of return (IRR) on its investments in the US over the last 20 months.
The private investment group has successfully exited a real estate mezzanine ‘Murabaha’ transaction in the US.
“While 2017 has been notable for adverse market conditions in the region, QInvest has witnessed continuing investor appetite for the international real estate sector, with particular interest in the US market. A return of almost 15% over 20 months reflects a strong return for a mezzanine transaction, given the conservative level of risk,” its chief executive Tamim Hamad al-Kawari said.
Across the year, QInvest had seen strong performance within its real estate division, demonstrating the sustainability and resilience of business strategy. “We will continue to invest in key global markets on an opportunistic basis as we focus on delivering sustainable value for clients and shareholders,” he said.
Craig Cowie, Head of Real Estate Investments and Advisory at QInvest, said the realty market continues to be a strategic priority for it. 
“As part of our strategy of originating new investment opportunities, across both the debt and equity segment, we have closed several real estate transactions this year. The latest is the mezzanine Murabaha of a diversified portfolio of 17 US assets,” he said.
Since inception, the real estate division has invested more than $1bn of its balance sheet and advised on transactions with an aggregate value of over $4bn.
“We are committed to providing effective financing solutions for real estate transactions in Qatar and in international markets, such as Continental Europe, UK and the US,” according to Cowie.
Since the beginning of the year, QInvest’s real estate team has completed the acquisition of two assets in the US, both as part of the bank’s US multi-family residential investment strategy.
The team also made investments in Spanish and Scottish development assets. In 2017, QInvest fully exited the St Edmund Fund, an investment in a prime real-estate development in Central London, which delivered a realised net return of 22%, and is finalising a forward sale of a redevelopment project in Luxembourg.
“Alongside our achievements within the real estate sector, and in response to the growing investor demand for more innovative and income-generating products, we have successfully launched the second version of our QInvest SQN Income Fund,” al-Kawari said. This series of products offers shareholders and investors a unique opportunity to access income generating assets in developed markets. The first version of these funds was oversubscribed. It aims to pay out a net yield of 7% per annum on a monthly basis and has a targeted IRR of between 8% and 9%, with tenure of five years.
“We also have a strong track record in managing funds via our managed account platform QMAP, as well as managing local equity funds Currently, we are developing a series of attractive products, including those targeting local investment opportunities, that we plan to announce in coming months,” he said.
Vaughn Weatherdon, a director in QInvest’s real estate division, shared his insights and experience regarding investment opportunities in the US realty sector, a market in which Qatar’s fund has a strong, long-term track record.



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