The Middle East 20

When it comes to investment management in the Middle East, the sovereign wealth funds of the Gulf Arab oil exporters grab the spotlight. After all, the funds of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — amount to a heady $1.8 trillion.

Yet there’s more to asset management in the region than just these sovereign players. Institutional and retail asset managers have been making strides of their own. Gulf oil wealth has filled private as well as public coffers, driving up demand for investment expertise. As a result, the number of asset managers in the Middle East and North Africa has risen roughly fourfold over the past decade, to 137, according to a survey sponsored in 2012 by companies including audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In recognition of this growth, Institutional Investor presents its first-ever ranking of the region’s leading fund managers, the Middle East 20. NCB Capital, the asset management arm of Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank, tops the list, with $10.9 billion in assets as of June 30, followed closely by Bahrain’s Investcorp Bank, with $10.5 billion. Dubai-based private-equity house Abraaj Group, Kuwait’s Watani Investment Co. and Cairo-based Beltone Asset Management round out the top five.

Firms in the Middle East 20 manage a combined $63.7 billion. Those amounts are very modest by the standards of what PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates to be a $25 trillion global asset management industry, but regional executives are optimistic about the outlook. Buoyant household incomes are fostering demand for investment products. Fund managers are meeting that demand with increasingly sophisticated practices and products, including Islamic funds. And regional markets are poised for further growth, particularly with governments signaling prospects of regulatory changes that could open further avenues of opportunity.