SEI Partners with ANB Invest, a Subsidiary of Arab National Bank, for Global Investment Management Solutions

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SEI (Nasdaq: SEIC) today announced its strategic partnership with ANB Invest, a subsidiary of Arab National Bank, to deliver comprehensive investment management solutions to investors within Saudi Arabia.

ANB Invest ("ANBI") will utilize SEI's investment management services, a key component of Global Wealth Services. SEI's investment management services leverage its leading manager-of-managers approach and employs a rigorous process to evaluate, select, monitor and administer global managers in every geography and asset class. Coupled with ANB Invest's local and regional capabilities, this partnership is the first of its type in the Middle East and is designed to enable ANBI to efficiently and effectively implement certain global investment management solutions to deliver on ANBI's clients' investment objectives.

SEI, which currently manages in excess of $178 billion for institutions, banks and wealthy families, provides access to some of the world's top managers, previously only available to large institutions. SEI is also looking to expand with local partners in other parts of the region.

Commenting, Jahangir Aka, Managing Director for SEI in the Middle East, said: "Arab National Bank is one of the most respected groups in the region, and we are delighted to be partnering with their asset management division. We look forward to working with ANBI to deliver a differentiated offering that will help them meet their clients' investment needs. This relationship also reflects our growing global presence and is a key step in our strategy to expand SEI's footprint in the Middle East. We are looking to build on the success of this partnership and strengthen our offering across the Middle East. Our global investment management and processing capabilities are complementary fits for local banks in the region gearing up to compete with international players in wealth and asset management."

Haitham Al-Mubarak, Head of Asset Management, ANB Invest said: "At ANB Invest, our focus is to offer unique products and services to our valued clients. After considerable studies, we believe that the multi-manager approach is superior to just using a single manager in each fund. The multi-manager approach allows the fund manager to use more than one portfolio manager in each fund with each portfolio manager specializing in a style or sector.

Markets go in cycles as they move up and down. Hence, a single strategy might not be suitable for all parts of the market cycle. Using multiple managers allows the fund to adapt its strategy and style as markets change. Historically, the multi-manager approach was mostly restricted to institutions or high-net-worth investors since it requires scale to implement. Most investors could not gain access to it. We are glad that ANB Invest is the first company in Saudi Arabia to offer this investment management approach to all its clients and believe our partnership with SEI will add significant benefits to our clients.

SEI's history of market knowledge, research and investment solutions capabilities made them our preferred partner in offering this strategy to clients. SEI is also committed to the investment industry in Saudi Arabia. We are confident that working with SEI will enable us to deliver quality products and service to our clients."

This partnership follows SEI's recent announcements about its Middle East market entry and the launch of the first dedicated Islamic Manager of Managers equity funds in July last year.

About SEI

SEI (Nasdaq: SEIC) is a leading global provider of outsourced asset management, investment processing and investment operations solutions. The company's innovative solutions help corporations, financial institutions, financial advisors, and affluent families create and manage wealth. As of June 30, 2008, through its subsidiaries and partnerships in which the company has a significant interest, SEI administers $420 billion in mutual fund and pooled assets and manages $178 billion in assets. SEI serves clients, conducts or is registered to conduct business and/or operations, from more than 20 offices in over a dozen countries. For more information, visit www.seic.com.

About ANB Invest

ANB Invest is a subsidiary fully owned by the leading Arab National Bank (ANB), benefiting from ANB's 140 branches and its professional bankers around the Kingdom. ANB Invest is licensed by the Capital Market Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to conduct and offer financial services including: dealing, underwriting, asset management, arranging, advisory services and custody. Paid up capital is SAR 400 Millions.

ANB Invest manages a variety of conventional and Shariah compliant funds and portfolios that cater to different types of investor profiles ranging from the conservative to the growth oriented. Total assets under management are close to SAR 2.8 bln.

Issued by:

This information is issued by SEI Investments (Europe) Limited, 4th Floor, Time & Life Building 1 Bruton Street, London W1J 6TL which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.


    No offer of any security is made hereby. Recipients of this information
who intend to apply for shares in any SEI Fund are reminded that any such
application may be made solely on the basis of the information contained in
the Prospectus.

    Company Contact:                       Media Contact:
    Dana Grosser                           Elisabeth Behr
    SEI                                    Braithwaite Communications
    610-676-2459                           215-564-3200 x113
    dgrosser@seic.com                      ebehr@braithwaitepr.com

SOURCE SEI