Middle East Wealth Management Forum 2018 Post Event Report

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24 January I Ritz Carlton, DIFC I Dubai, UAE

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Summary

Middle East wealth management on track for growth and evolution

The Hubbis Middle East Wealth Management Forum on January 24 proved an enormous success with sponsors, speakers and delegates. The discussions ranged from wealth management strategies to legacy planning to compliance to technology to investment opportunities.

The UAE is safe, has negligible personal or corporate tax, offers high living standards and has an excellent position geographically. The financial sector is well established and growing in depth and sophistication. This should be an ideal recipe for it to become a highly respected and credible centre for wealth management and attracting HNW and UHNW families. But can the UAE indeed develop into a world-class wealth management centre?

The wealth management industry is certainly evolving. The regulator is helping improve practices and standards of professionalism. And institutions in the Middle East are assessing and reacting to the ever greater regulatory and compliance requirements from across the globe.

Old money is largely staying in the region and new money is coming into the UAE from Africa, Asia, the Middle East of course, and even from new avenues in Europe. A speaker at the event told the audience that the UAE is also the fifth destination in the world, for high net worth individuals looking to move residence.

The broader prospects of the economy, the lifestyle, the low taxes and the accessibility are all excellent fundamentals for both continued economic expansion and diversification, as well as for the wealth industry.

Many multi-family offices and single-family offices are establishing in the UAE, rather than just going to London or Switzerland as they might have done in the past. That further helps the circulation of money and the diversification of investments and asset classes, further consolidating the prospects for the wealth sector.

A Hubbis poll conducted during the event showed that 88% of the audience felt client financial literacy improved over the last 10 years.

The prospects for Islamic wealth management are immense. One expert noted that Islamic wealth management around the globe is worth an estimated $65 billion out of a total of the figure quoted for Islamic finance of closer to $2 trillion. In other words, Islamic wealth management is but a drop in a vast ocean and even today the Islamic banks are still not particularly focused on wealth management. The opportunity is not to be missed.

Succession planning is another core growth market highlighted during the event. Due to its quite short and recent history, the UAE does not yet have a lot of experience at wealth transition. A lot of wealth that has been generated in the region is, typically,

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first generation and only recently moving into the second generation. Again, there are immense opportunities for structuring wealth preservation, succession planning and intergenerational wealth transfer.

Regulatory and compliance issues are of considerable concern to the older and newer competitors in the wealth sector. Institutions in the region are getting to grip with the investment in people and infrastructure that the ever-tighter global regulatory regimes are demanding. The challenges of introducing seamless IT interface for clients is another key focus and opportunity.

And the wealth industry in the region recognises that people skills must also be upgraded through education and ongoing training. Whatever the technological revolution lying in wait, wealth management is a people business, especially in a region such as the Middle East. Experts at the event agreed that a balance of both personal and technical skills will be ever more essential for relationship managers and other front-of-client roles.

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Type of firm

31%

15%

13%

12%

10%

6%

6%

5%

2%

Insurance

Consultant

Asset management

EAM/IFA

Retail Bank

Private Bank

Technology

Others

IAM/Family Office

Attendee Profile

Job role

Relationship Manager

Business Head

C-Level

Consultant

Asset Manager

Others

22%

42%

16%

7%

7%

6%

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Abacus Financial ConsultantsAbu Dhabi Commercial BankAbu Dhabi Islamic BankAhli United BankAl Bashayer InvestmentsAl Sahara Insurance BrokersAllfunds BankAmarshein InternationalAmicorp GroupArbuthnot LathamArch CorporationArendtAriaAsiaciti TrustBanque Cantonale de GenèveBanque HavillandBarjeel Geojit SecuritiesBrokNet GroupCapstone InsuranceChartered Institute for Securities & InvestmentCitiComarchCommercial Bank of DubaiCompass Financial SolutionsCompass Insurance BrokersContinental Financial ServicesContinental Insurance BrokersCredit Suisse Private BankingDeutsche Bank Wealth ManagementDFSADIFC AuthorityDorsumDubai Gold & Commodities ExchangeEFG BankELXI HoldingsEmirates CapitalEmirates Insurance AssociationEmirates Investment Bank

Attendees from these firms

Emirates Islamic BankEmirates NBDEmirates NBD Asset ManagementERIEYFalcon Private WealthFirst Abu Dhabi BankFirst Advisory TrustFirst Eastern CapitalFirst Forte ConsultancyFranklin Templeton InvestmentsFriends Provident InternationalGlobaleyeGreenland Investment ManagementGuardian Wealth ManagementGulf International FinanceHansard InternationalHelvetic InvestmentsHenley & PartnersHolborn AssetsHSBC Global Asset ManagementiCareInsurance Insurance BrokersImpieego CapitalIndigo Financial Analysis & ConsultancyIndosuez Wealth ManagementINTL FCStoneInvescoInvestme Financial ServicesInvestor’s TrustISAMJHC FinancialKAMCOLegacyLine Family OfficeLGT BankM/HQMauritius Union GroupMercantile Global ServicesMondialMotilal Oswal Asset Management

National Bonds CorporationNedbank Private WealthNEXGEN Desert Green ConsultancyNext Generation EquityNexus Insurance BrokersNoor BankOneWorld MidEastOuter Temple ChambersPetra Insurance BrokersPF AdvisoryPlan Ahead Wealth AdvisorsPrincipal Global InvestorsProvidence LifePwCQue CapitalQuilter CheviotRAKBANKre/thinkRedwood CollegiumRussell InvestmentsSami CapitalSaxo MarketsSchubert CommoditiesSeguro Private WealthSelousSGRASimmons & SimmonsSun Life FinancialSwissquoteTakaful Emarat InsuranceTakaud Savings & PensionsTata Asset ManagementTaurus Wealth AdvisorsTrinity GroupVirtuZoneVita International Insurance BrokersWehbe Insurance ServicesYield InvestmentsZurich InternationalZurich International Life

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Speakers

Graham MorrallHansard International

Laurence BlackAsiaciti Trust

Biswajit DasguptaEmirates Investment Bank

Aashish Somaiyaa Motilal Oswal Asset Management

Daffer LuqmanAbu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Mandeep NalwaTaurus Wealth Advisors

Akhil ChaturvediMotilal Oswal Asset Management

Damian HitchenSwissquote

Dhiraj Rai Franklin Templeton Investments

Muneer KhanSimmons & Simmons

Nick SavastanoInvesco

David Russell AM QCOuter Temple Chambers

F. Edward LopezJHC Financial

Jennifer HansenSaxo Markets

Bata Racic Henley & Partners

David VarleySun Life Financial

Faisal Hasan, CFAKAMCO

Karim GhandourLegacyLine Family Office

Peter Huber Zurich International

Iheshan FaaseeRussell Investments

Deepak AhujaRAKBANK

George TriplowEY

James Ferguson Guardian Wealth Management

Deepak MehraCommercial Bank of Dubai

Anthony JaganathanEmirates NBD

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Philip Cernik Friends Provident International

Sofia Mota re/think

Vinod Krishnan Arch Corporation

Philip StoryInvestor’s Trust

Szymon IdzikowskiAbu Dhabi Commercial Bank

Walter JoppZurich International Life

Scott LittlewoodHelvetic Investments

Thomas BuemsenDorsum

Yunus SelantAllfunds Bank

Sandeep SinghFranklin Templeton Investments

Tariq Bin HendiEmirates NBD

Yann MrazekM/HQ

Shiraz HabibFirst Abu Dhabi Bank

Timothy SearleGlobaleye

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Key voting poll results The Hubbis Middle East Wealth Management Forum event in Dubai on January 24 provided fascinating and thought-provoking discussions and talks for the assembled delegates. As usual we also polled the attendees and mined out the following nuggets.

Attendees agree that financial literacy has improved over the last 10 years

42% of respondents are seeing negative growth in their wealth management business

56% of our attendees enthusiastically embrace the changes that the regulators are making and think they have got it right

Our audience unanimously believes that clients understand topics like CRS and tax, and they understand the reality of their situation

Only 43% of our community feel confident in discussing issues with clients

Wealth solutions and wealth planning is an increasingly important part of the conversation with clients for all

of our Middle East wealth management community

83% of the audience agree that improving client experience through digital tools is critical to survival, but 100% believe that their bank’s technology needs dramatic improvement.

ALL believe that competency and professional standards need to be raised in this industry

59% of our respondents believe that the industry creates outcomes that are in the long-term best interest of the client

The preferred careers for the next generation in the Middle East? Fin Tech startup (33%), Lawyer (19%), You tube blogger (19%), Compliance officer (11%), Private Banker (11%), Crypto trader (4%), Insurance Agent (3%).

Two thirds of our audience agree that Crypto is still not a viable investment for you and your clients

58% of respondents will be increasing their weighting in Indian equities this year. and 57% will be increasing their allocation to ETFs and passive funds

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Middle East Wealth Management Forum 2019

Tuesday 22rd January