AMP Capital Investors has opened a new office in Bahrain to tap into the opportunities provided by sovereign wealth funds, government pension funds and large family offices in the Middle East.

The firm has appointed Piers Wheeler as Middle East head of institutional business. He will lead the new office.

Wheeler comes from DTZ, where he was head of Middle East capital markets, with a focus on working with regional sovereign wealth funds and family offices.

He has also worked as an associate partner for Knight Frank, where he carried out acquisitions and disposals, developed strong relationships with clients and assisted with international investment transactions and requirements.

"We made the decision in the fourth quarter of last year to hire someone in Bahrain," AMP Capital international chief executive Anthony Fasso said.

Wheeler relocated last month from London to Bahrain, after AMP Capital received its licence to operate in the country.

"We moved him to our London office until we had the licence in place and then he moved there four weeks ago," Fasso said.

Wheeler will service AMP Capital's clients in Bahrain and the wider region.
 
"The countries that we focus on are the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, so Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) countries," Fasso said.

"It has been a real-asset story around real estate and regional and global infrastructure opportunities. 

"We already have a number of clients from there and they are very interested in Asian real assets, particularly Australian real assets, as a way to play the Asian and China growth story."

AMP's existing clients in the region are predominantly invested in unlisted real estate assets in Australia.

Fasso could not disclose how large the business was, but said the assets under management from Middle Eastern clients were substantial.

"They like Australia. They like the fact that we have had a well-performing economy and a well-governed one, the way we have come through the GFC (global financial crisis), the commodity story and the exposure to China," he said.

He said clients also looked to diversify their holdings and reduce their exposure to the United States.

Bahrain recently has been the subject of major unrest, sparked by pro-democratic protests around the region. In February and March, more than 30 people were killed during anti-government protests.
 
But in recent months order has been more or less restored and talks have started to lead the country to a more democratic structure, in which the country's Shi'ite majority will have a larger role to play.

Fasso said the upheaval had delayed the opening of the new office.

"It was obviously monitored, because we have an obligation to do that to our staff," he said.

"But when it became clear things had settled down we got our approval and then we relocated Piers to Bahrain."