White papers and surveys covering issues relating to Middle East Investors. Private wealth in the Middle East region is unusually concentrated and some of the most frequently viewed research on Middle East issues covers family offices and private wealth management. Reports on trends in the sovereign wealth fund landscape have been popular, with SWFs such as ADIA... and SAMA featuring prominently. Retirement attitudes and approaches to savings and retirement in the MENA region are also given coverage. Amongst the most popular articles in this section are those examining future trends in the Gulf, the investment outlook for Middle East markets and white papers on geopolitical issues in the MENA region.
State Street commissioned Oxford Economics to conduct a survey of 306 investment professionals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during August and September of 2018. Respondents represented sovereign funds, central banks, asset managers and pension funds. The survey captured views on MENA capital markets…
The drive for energy efficiency and the long-term response to climate change, in addition to technology innovation and the shale revolution in the United States, are all pointing to sustained pressure on economies that rely heavily on revenue from oil and gas. This 95-page report focuses on what these changes could mean…
This report by the Economist Intelligence Unit provides new forecasts for different economies around the world, as well as insights into exchange rates, global trade, commodity prices, and more.
The influence of sovereign wealth funds is undeniable; with assets reaching $7.45tn, they have reached a size comparable to that of the entire alternative assets industry, which Preqin today estimates at approximately $8.73tn. This report contains key highlights from our main 338-page publication, The 2018 Preqin Sovereign…
This presentation has been put together by Bassam Fattouh and Anupama Sen of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. It delves into peak oil demand, the energy transition, the oil sector within the transition and future implications for oil policy.
This issue leads with a review of the EMEA region in the first half of the second quarter, revealing a 148% increase in aggregate capital deployed in the region compared to the same period last year. This was due to a dramatic increase in average deal size of 168% over 2018.
Next we travel to the Iberian Peninsula.…
This report, Preqin's first dedicated to alternatives in Israel, provides a valuable snapshot of the growing landscape of active LPs in Israel along with their known private capital investments. We set the Israeli data against a global backdrop, using net performance data for over 9,400 funds and public pension surveys…
This paper is part of an ongoing Shariah analysis of bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and applications of blockchain in Islamic finance. It aims to push discussions on these new issues and get feedback and comments from subject-matter experts and scholars for further development of the research.
Locals are proud to state how resilient Lebanon's financial system is. But Eaton Vance strategists believe it is a dangerous game to constantly test this. Bond spreads are sounding the alarm that the status quo is unsustainable. In their view, Lebanon is one shock away from serious trouble.
While fears of trade wars will continue to influence sentiment and shape price outcomes, it is the recent shifts in OPEC, and particularly its dominant player Saudi Arabia’s, output policy which has had the biggest impact on physical balances, prices and the term structure to date. During the OPEC meeting, Saudi Arabia sent…
On June 20, MSCI announced it would add Saudi Arabia (alongside Argentina) to its Emerging Markets Index in June 2019. MSCI currently classifies Saudi Arabia as a stand-alone country, outside both its Emerging Markets and Frontier Markets indexes. Somewhat uniquely, the kingdom will move into the MSCI Emerging Markets Index…
The June OPEC agreement to increase oil output provided only a brief respite to oil consumers. After a temporary dip, prices started to rise steadily again, with Brent gaining USD4 per barrel and WTI more than USD7 between 22 June and 6 July. The larger rise in the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price was due to a Canadian…
From a distance, it is easy to conclude that Egypt is an arid environment for investors. Being only 0.13% of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the country is easily dismissed given its questionable democracy, high rate of inflation, recent currency devaluation and twin deficits. Look closely, and the conditions become more…
To better comprehend the drivers and divisions in regional relations, at a time of heightened tensions, this paper explores Iran’s opportunistic foreign policy towards the Gulf states with a principal focus on Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE – the four countries that have maintained and developed regular relations with Iran…
Most of the international community was caught by surprise on 5 June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced that they had cut their diplomatic ties with Qatar and were putting it under an effective embargo. The existence of tensions in the Gulf was well known, but a rupture of this…
The Arab World is at a critical juncture. Ambitious economic and social reforms bring great economic promise to the region and at the same time we continue to see fragility and persisting inequalities that can potentially erode social cohesion. The report, which is the result of a long-standing collaboration between the…
The United Arab Emirates' open economy and society have won praise, but lax enforcement of some laws is causing U.S. concern over proliferation of advanced technology to Iran; terrorist transiting; and human trafficking, particularly in the emirate of Dubai. The UAE undertook its first major electoral process in…
