This is the sixth fund launched by the bank in two and a half years.

The Pyramid fund is open ended with no target capital, but “it aims to raise as much as $20 million” by early summer, said Michel Chikhani, head of asset management at BlomInvest.

The fund promises investors with an annual return of 13 percent, a return distinctly higher than bank deposit rates.

It will be offered in dollars and not in Egyptian pounds, and thus it targets non-Egyptian investors. It seeks out to investors looking for diversification, those seeking good returns with a low risk over the medium term, and investors seeking capital appreciation avoiding excessive risk.

The fund seeks to invest a minimum of 50 percent in Egyptian debt instruments issued by the Egyptian government, the Central Bank and other Egyptian corporations.  It also intends to allocate a maximum of 50 percent of its investments to equities of Egyptian firms operating in the real-estate, banking, financial, and telecom sectors.

Minimal subscription to the fund was set at $5,000. Units will be issued and redeemed on weekly basis with a placement fee of $25 for every unit subscribed, the bank said.

Laws in Lebanon do not require that banks own a minimal seed capital. But Chikhani said that Blom Bank, along with its group of affiliates, including insurance companies, may invest in the fund “as subscribers and not as owners.”