Beltone is a financial services group with 24 diversified funds and more than 100,000 clients. Khalil El Bawab, CEO of the Local & Regional Markets Division, shares the firm’s growth plans and challenges with Global Finance.
Beltone began in Cairo in 2002 as an asset management firm. In 2022, it was acquired by Emirati Chimera Investment, part of Abu Dhabi-based IHC. Since then, Beltone has completed two record capital increases—EGP 10 billion (about $210 million) in 2023, which at the time was the largest in Egyptian Exchange (EGX) history, and EGP 10.5 billion in 2025, which is now the record for the largest all-cash capital increase on the EGX. Today, Beltone is part of IHC’s new entity, 2PointZero, alongside eight other companies.
Global Finance: How is Beltone Holding currently structured?
Khalil El Bawab: Beltone is a fully fledged institution offering a wide range of services, including investment banking, brokerage, asset management, and custody services. Additionally, Beltone provides various non-banking financial services such as leasing, factoring, consumer and mortgage finance, SME finance, and microfinance. The organization also has a venture capital company that invests in startups through equity and venture debt. Beyond finance, Beltone has expanded into non-financial sectors, with businesses like Robin, which offers Data Science and AI solutions; Beltone Academy, focused on training and development; and Magnet, a human resources consultancy.
GF: What is your approach to the client’s needs?
Bawab: Traditionally, financial services were about selling products. However, amid the market’s emerging financial literacy levels, we shifted our focus on redefining the need. At Beltone, we pinpoint other needs for the clients and then we engineer tailored products around them. Here again, the approach is fully data-driven. For example, clients might not be aware of how to maximize their returns by moving their investments around between equities, fixed income products, precious metal funds, and other channels. Once the investor becomes aware of these diverse offerings and is aware of the ease of investing with Beltone, their need is redefined and met with a tailored portfolio of investing options. Credibility comes not from pushing the highest-commission product, but from ensuring that 5, 10, or 15 years later, clients can say they fulfilled their needs.
GF: How is the regulatory landscape supporting Beltone’s growth?
Bawab: The asset management industry in Egypt changed significantly in 2018. Before then, only banks and insurance companies could issue or sponsor funds. The new regulations allowed asset managers and investment banks to launch their own funds and brokerage firms to act as placement agents. This is a true milestone for the industry, allowing financial service providers to bridge the gap in terms of physical barriers, paperwork, and user experience for clients looking to invest.
Then, issuing a fund could take up to a year; now it takes just a very few days. Since then, more than 50 new funds have started, and that has completely changed the market. Also, the financial regulatory authority issued the FinTech License, which allows digital onboarding, including e-signatures and e-contracts, to help attract more investors to the market, effectively taking the market to new levels.
GF: You manage a large number of funds–why so many?
Bawab: We currently manage 24 funds, including 15 for banks, and plan to launch 5–6 more. All our funds have zero subscription or redemption fees — no entry or exit barriers. The market sees us as simply launching fund after fund, but it’s a conscious strategy and preparation for our upcoming wealth management application.
Today, we already offer the Beltone Trade App — the only investment bank-owned app not tied to a bank, giving qualified investors direct access to equities, fixed income products, and mutual funds. In early 2026, we’ll launch a second app that goes beyond robo-advisory. Clients will be digitally onboarded, complete a risk profiling exercise, and receive personalized advice on the optimal allocation for their investments. It could be single investments or incremental, with standard settlement instructions every month… I’m not concerned which channel the clients go to, but I want to equip them with the right tools to choose the products that best fit their needs.
GF: Who are the clients that you’re targeting?
Bawab: Generation Alpha. The ones who live on smartphones — they research everything and don’t want to interact with any human being. In fact, studies show people would rather visit the dentist than go to a bank! Egyptian law now allows 15-year-olds to open bank accounts and invest in the stock market. Our goal is to incentivize this generation early, with incremental investment plans matched by their guardians up to a limit. By starting at 15, we’re preparing the next driving force of our client base for the coming 10–15 years.
GF: Sounds like you are facing a huge financial literacy challenge.
Bawab: Sure, but you have it at all ages, and overall financial literacy in Egypt is improving rapidly. We are seeing tremendous growth in the number of new entrants opening brokerage accounts or participating in the stock market & mutual funds. We are still behind international standards, but our market growth is outpacing global benchmarks in terms of market participation. This is a collective effort that everybody is working on. The focus now is on making investing simpler and more accessible — and our upcoming wealth management app is designed to be exactly that: super simple and straightforward.
