Inside Zamanat Fund’s $100M GCC Private Credit Strategy

Zamanat Fund is entering GCC private credit with a $100 million ambition, a $250,000 minimum commitment and a target net annualized return of 9–10%—but without a performance record yet. For family offices, the central question is not whether tokenization makes the structure more modern. It is whether the manager can turn an identified $40 million to $50 million financing pipeline into a diversified, performing portfolio.

The strategy is based on a real market imbalance. Large institutions can access regional private credit through warehouse facilities and dedicated mandates, while smaller investors may participate through fintech platforms. Family offices seeking exposure at a practical investment size can struggle to find a route between the two.

Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited has been established to address that middle ground. It plans to finance established, profitable businesses across the GCC, initially concentrating on Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The 9–10% return is a target after fund fees and expenses, not a guarantee, with quarterly distributions expected only after the portfolio has been deployed and stabilized. Capital raising is still underway, and the underlying assets—not the blockchain layer—will ultimately determine the outcome for investors.

Where Zamanat Fund sees the financing gap

The fund is built around a gap between what fintech lenders and banks typically finance. According to Zamanat, digital lenders commonly provide between $50,000 and $400,000, while banks often become more interested when a financing requirement reaches roughly $5 million to $10 million. Zamanat intends to concentrate mainly on transactions of $2 million to $5 million, with expected tenors ranging from six months to three years.

“We’ve tested the credit; institutions have already validated the asset class,” Umair Tariq, founder and CEO of Zamanat, told Unlock Blockchain. “What’s missing is access at a size that works for them.”

The institutional activity cited in the fund’s materials supports the broader private-credit thesis, rather than Zamanat’s own track record. It includes a $690 million warehouse facility secured by Saudi lender Lendo from J.P. Morgan, a $136 million agreement involving Beehive, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Magellan Capital, and a $100 million facility secured by CredibleX from Pollen Street Capital. Together, those transactions indicate growing institutional appetite for technology-enabled SME and mid-market credit in the region.

Zamanat’s thesis is that family offices should not need a balance sheet large enough to participate in such facilities before they can gain exposure to the asset class.

What sits underneath the return target

The planned portfolio is not simply a collection of fintech loans. Approximately 75% is expected to be allocated to senior secured private financing, supported by smaller allocations to sukuk, structured products and a liquidity buffer. Direct transactions would focus on established companies with operating histories, visible cash flows, contracted revenue or strong counterparties.

One opportunity reviewed by the team, for example, involved an established property-management and real-estate business with long-term rental contracts, positive cash flow and no existing debt. The company was seeking growth capital to expand its management activities. The borrower was not named because the transaction remains confidential, but the example illustrates the profile Zamanat wants to finance: operating businesses requiring expansion capital, rather than early-stage companies relying on future projections.

Tariq said the fund has identified an opportunity pipeline of approximately $40 million to $50 million. Its underwriting is expected to focus on debt-service capacity, security, financial covenants and recovery prospects, with exposure capped at 25% to any single borrower or lending platform.

“Being underserved is not a reason to lower credit standards,” Tariq said.

That will be the central test of the strategy. The regional financing gap may be large, but it does not automatically make every borrower attractive. The fund’s ability to deliver its target return will depend on the quality of its underwriting, the pricing of each facility, portfolio diversification and recoveries when a borrower runs into difficulty.

A regulated structure for professional investors

Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited appears on the DFSA public register as a DIFC Investment Company and an Exempt Fund, under reference number C000353. It is managed by DFSA-authorized Truleum Venture Partners Limited, while Apex Group serves as administrator. Zamanat is the sponsor and the party developing the investment strategy.

The distinction is important: Zamanat itself should not be described as the licensed fund manager. The regulated management, administration and legal register sit within the fund’s formal DIFC structure.

Access is limited to eligible Professional Clients, and US Persons are excluded. The fund has a five-year term, with two possible one-year extensions, while its investment period is three years with similar extension options.

The $100 million fundraising target has not yet been reached. Disrupt.com has provided an anchor commitment, according to Tariq, and discussions with other investors are progressing. He expects the current fundraising phase to close within approximately 45 to 60 days.

This leaves Zamanat at an important but early point. The legal structure and pipeline are in place, but the next proof points will be converting investor interest into committed capital, deploying it without relaxing credit standards and establishing a record of distributions.

What tokenization genuinely changes

Each participating share in Zamanat Fund is represented by a ZM1 investment token issued on ZIGChain. Investors still hold a direct economic interest in the fund; the token does not create exposure to ZIG or to cryptocurrency prices. Its value follows the fund’s net asset value and the performance of the underlying portfolio.

For now, the clearest benefits are operational. Tokenization can give approved investors a verifiable record of their holdings, make eligibility rules programmable and provide a controlled process for future transfers. It does not alter the quality of the borrower, improve collateral or remove credit risk.

“Tokenization changes access and administration,” Tariq said. “It does not change the underlying investment, credit profile or risk.”

There are also limits to what is live today. Initial subscriptions and distributions will move through traditional banking channels, while stablecoin capabilities are still being developed. Apex’s formal investor register remains the legally authoritative record; the blockchain record mirrors it and does not replace it.

Nor does tokenization create instant liquidity. The fund has a two-year lock-up, offers no redemption right and has no active secondary market or guaranteed buyer. After the lock-up, a transfer to another eligible Professional Client may be possible, but it would remain subject to onboarding, compliance checks and the required approvals.

That makes ZM1 less a freely traded token than a digital wrapper around a regulated private-market interest. This may sound less dramatic than the language often associated with tokenized finance, but it is also more credible: the immediate value lies in recordkeeping, investor controls and the possibility of more efficient transfers over time.

Shariah-compatible assets, with a clear legal distinction

The fund’s investment universe may include Shariah-compatible instruments and structures such as Murabaha, Ijara, Musharaka, Wakala and sukuk. However, the fund is not formally classified or marketed as an Islamic Fund.

For investors with specific Shariah requirements, that distinction should be examined rather than assumed. It allows the portfolio to use compatible structures without representing the entire vehicle as having the status, governance and oversight of a formally designated Islamic fund.

The test now moves from structure to execution

Zamanat Fund is attempting to connect three developments already visible across the Gulf: demand for growth financing from established businesses, family-office interest in private income strategies and the gradual movement of regulated fund interests onto blockchain infrastructure.

Its significance will not be determined by the token alone. It will depend on whether the manager can raise the intended capital, convert a $40 million to $50 million pipeline into a diversified portfolio, maintain underwriting discipline and produce the income profile it is targeting.

If Zamanat can convert its identified pipeline into a diversified portfolio while maintaining underwriting discipline, the fund could give family offices a practical route into an asset class still largely accessed through institutional-scale commitments.

The DIFC structure and tokenized ownership model provide the framework. The next phase will be about showing that this framework can deliver disciplined credit exposure and the targeted income profile. If it can, Zamanat may help bring a meaningful segment of GCC private credit within practical reach of family offices.