CAIRO: Top officials of regional investment bank Delta Rasmala Investments credited “major reorganization” and a conservative approach during the crisis for the three prestigious awards it won recently. Rasmala's asset management arm won the GTM/EGX Best Management Firm award in 2010, which is considered one of the most prestigious in the MENA region. It also took the top place for the Fixed Income Fund of the Year at the MENA Fund Manager Performance Awards in Dubai this past January. Late last year, the company won an award for having the best new equity fund for its MENA Private Equity Fund 2. According to CEO Farid El-Chiati, the major reorganization that occurred in 2009 was a decisive factor that allowed the company to put itself in a position to win this plethora of awards. He also pointed out “the IT and new management systems overhauls have greatly contributed to our success. “These awards demonstrate that the business community has recognized the serious accomplishments of our firm,” he added. Managing Director and head of asset management Ahmed Abo El-Saad indicated that the firm capitalized on the ongoing financial crisis by applying a conservative approach to its business dealings. “We were able to weather the financial storm thanks to a more risk-averse approach to doing business,” he explained. Delta Rasmala Investments held a roundtable presentation on Sunday to highlight their most recent achievements. Rasmala's leading figures headed up the roundtable, which included El-Chiati, El-Saad as well as its Deputy Managing Director and head of equity Hany Saad. In addition to the company's recent awards, the event sought to draw attention to the fact that Rasmala would be working hand-in-hand with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group to produce equity research on a number of shares listed on the Middle Eastern stock markets. The duo issued its first report back in February of this year: “MENA Telecom Sector”. Furthermore, the investment-banking arm of the company announced the launch of the Rasmala MENA Brokerage Platform, a revolutionary new e-trading platform which will give clients access to 14 equity markets throughout the MENA region. Although Rasmala has performed well in spite of the financial crisis, the company representatives believe that there are other more immediate issues constraining the private sector from performing at a higher level in Egypt than it has up until now. Indeed, El-Chiati, El-Saad and Saad unanimously agreed that from a more global perspective, increased political transparency would be highly conducive to doing better business in the country. “Greater transparency on the part of government would allow more accurate predictions,” which would allow for better informed decisions, and as a result, a high rate of success, El-Chiati stressed. His colleagues El-Saad and Saad echoed the opinion, saying that the market is partially driven by rumors in contrast to more mature markets such as in Europe and the United States”. They explained that this can be very problematic for business. It puts the broker in a highly difficult position, or even at a disadvantage, as to whether or not to trust potentially dubious information, as it may prove costly down the road, the explained. Not only is a lack of transparency creating an obstacle to exploiting the private sector's full potential in Egypt, but also the trio called attention to the excessive government bureaucracy with which the country is bogged down as a serious hindrance to conducting business. Lamenting at the state of bureaucracy in the government, El-Chiati said, “things just take too long to accomplish in Egypt; there is so much back and forth paperwork.” However, he did mention that the new financial supervisory board that had been recently established must be applauded as a step toward alleviating the bureaucratic burden on businesses in Egypt.
