Dubai: For the rich, there is plenty of money to be made even in these times of financial chaos. Only if the moneyed know how and where to park their cash.
However, many of them may not know how to grow their wealth. This is where a private banker comes in. These bankers are on the prowl in the Gulf, looking for the wealthy willing to listen to their advice.
With the impact of the global recession increasingly being felt in the region, and an era of 'cash is king' in full swing globally, opportunities for investors are inevitably perceived as scarce.
With massive current account surpluses, the Gulf states are better placed than most to counter the effects of the global economic crisis. Last year, a report by McKinsey Global Institute estimated that in its base case scenario, the GCC would have $3.5 trillion of new funds to invest in global capital markets through 2020, taking the region's total overseas wealth to $8.3 trillion.
Changing global economic conditions will of course take their toll on the region's wealth reserves, but according to the McKinsey report, even if the GCC states did not invest abroad at all again, the returns on their existing foreign assets would produce $1.6 trillion by 2022. Of course, a reorientation of the GCC's foreign investments - particularly hard hit in North America and Western Europe - towards the domestic economy is now more likely, but the dilemma of how best to manage this amassed, and largely petro-fuelled, wealth remains.
The new and continuing opportunities such a situation presents for private banks such as Pictet and Cie to tap into are thus apparent. "On the institutional side, we decided to be present in the region to better cover sovereign wealth funds, central banks, pension funds, local banks and international banks and asset management companies," said Francesco Genovese, Regional Head of Institutional Business Development for Pictet and Cie in the Middle East.
"On the private banking side it's older families and more private clients that are out here in the region," he continued. As the reputation of major international investment banks in the UAE begins to decline, the opportunities that niche banks such as Pictet and Cie detect will increase.
By Rachna Uppal, Staff Reporter Gulf NewsUS EXPORT COUNCIL PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO US COMPANIES SEEKING ACCESS TO HIGH GROWTH MARKETS OVERSEAS. http://usexportcouncil.com/
