Investment

Sovereign Sukuk: Current Status, Opportunities & Challenges

This article was originally published in Islamic Finance News Innovation in Islamic finance, large-scale capital needs to fund infrastructure investments, and a slump in traditional revenue streams among oil-exporting Islamic countries has spurred Sukuk issuance in the recent past. Sovereign sukuk, which arrived in the global arena nearly two decades back, has firmly established its presence and accounts for the majority of Sukuk issuance. Growth in Islamic finance underpinned by Sovereign Sukuk issuance Islamic finance has continued to prosper and...

The Burgeoning Entertainment Industry in Saudi Arabia

As a part of its broader economic diversification plans, Saudi Arabia took an unprecedented policy move by framing a new entertainment policy. In line with the Kingdom’s Vision of 2030 of creating a vibrant society, General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has been established and an investment of US$ 64 Bn has been planned (BBC News 2018). GEA is part of the subprogram, Quality of Life under the Vision 2030 which aims for improving lifestyle by increasing entertainment and cultural avenues. Entertainment...

Can Robot Advisors Succeed in the GCC?

This new breed of investment advisory services currently has close to $100 Bn of Assets under Management (AUMs) in the US market which has a size of close to $30 Tn. At its current adoption rate, Deloitte predicts that robo-advisory services could be managing $5Tn - $7Tn by 2025. Big brands like Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch etc. have jumped in the race to offer such services to their clients which is expected to largely increase...

MENA Markets: What Happened in July?

The blazing summer heat encouraged the yearly migration of GCC tourists to cooler locations. These past few years this “summer hibernation” has coincided with the holy month of Ramadan, which acts as a double whammy for stock markets in the region. And if that wasn’t enough, the lifting of Iran sanctions sent oil prices tumbling down, with IPE Brent falling 17.9% to USD 52 in July, and the sell-off in the Chinese markets had a pronounced impact in the region....

Potential Investment Opportunities in GCC

KEY QUESTION 1: Can you explain the market growth in the GCC region? The GCC countries have been doing a lot better than both the developed and the emerging markets. The governments in the GCC region have been using oil revenues to develop various industries such as aviation, infrastructure, retail, health and education and thereby spurring strong growth in non-oil sectors. The success of GCC airlines at the global level stands testimony to this. Emirates Airways, Qatar Airways and Etihad...

GCC: The debate between private & public schools

Did you know that GCC citizens prefer to send their children to public schools? A good reason for that is the low cost of education in these schools.  But times are changing.  With the winds of globalization now blowing, parents in the GCC are slowly but surely beginning to vote for private schools.    Private schools provide the environment for kids to develop employable skills. Most of these schools offer an international curriculum that is well accepted in top universities...