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Empowering Women to Take Control of Their Wealth

Women’s wealth in GCC countries is growing fast and many are seeking greater control of their assets. Arnaud Leclercq Partner Holding Privé and Head of New Markets at Swiss private bank Lombard Odier, shares his perspective on how attitudes are changing and reveals that his female clients are increasingly looking for a trusted long-term partner that can help them achieve greater financial autonomy

Recent research 1 indicates that women’s wealth is increasing in the GCC region. What are you seeing?

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It’s well reported that women’s economic contribution is increasing. Thanks to a raft of social reforms and improving access to education across the region, our clients now include more and more highly educated women entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives, often in board-level positions. I’m also seeing them secure greater inheritance rights thanks to legal reforms across the region.

Common to all is a growing desire to take greater control of their assets. However, while many of our clients are highly accomplished or educated in their respective fields, many feel they lack the knowledge to manage their own assets.

For example, I had a recent conversation with one client who is a successful entrepreneur with a Master of Science degree from the University of Oxford. What she wants from us is a trusted long-term partner that she can rely on to help her increase her investment literacy and confidence.

How can the wealth management industry respond?

Wealth managers first need to establish trust using a highly personalised, clientcentric approach tailored to a client’s specific needs. Some female clients feel more comfortable talking to female relationship managers. But our clients can also have different priorities to men and different approaches to investing.

Many opt for long-term strategies strongly aligned to clear personal goals and a focus on capital preservation. My task is to show how they can protect their assets and achieve their goals through a portfolio of diversified, longterm investments.

Arnaud Leclercq, Partner Holding Privé and Head of New Markets, Lombard Odier

FOR OTHERS, SUSTAINABILITY HAS BECOME AN URGENT PRIORITY AND THEY WANT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN INVEST IN A WAY THAT DRIVES REAL, MEASURABLE CHANGE

1. ‘Women in Wealth: Managing the Next Decade of Women’s Wealth’, Boston Consulting Group, 2020 2. ‘The Pathway to Inclusive Investment’, BNY Mellon Investment Management, 2021

In line with recent reports2, our clients often show a greater appetite for values-based or responsible investment approaches. For example, many choose Islamic investment strategies or those that are specifically designed to make a positive social or environmental impact.

Philanthropic activities are very important to many of our clients and they want to know how they can direct their wealth to help poorer segments of society. For others, sustainability has become an urgent priority and they want to better understand how they can invest in a way that drives real, measurable change. Indeed, sustainability has climbed to the top of the policy agenda across the Arab world.

The wealth management industry therefore needs to take the time to understand the specific goals of their clients by offering a more inclusive service built on trust.

Why is Lombard Odier a bank of choice for women?

Our size is core to our appeal. With over CHF 358bn assets under management, we have the scale and reach to offer tailored investment solutions, but we are also small enough to provide a very personal approach to client relationships.

Although we are a Swiss private bank, we have been serving clients in GCC countries for 50 years from offices in Dubai and, more recently, Abu Dhabi. Consequently, we have a deep understanding of our clients’ needs in the region.

We have been offering Islamic investment solutions, including our Shariah discretionary mandate since 2012. We were also one of the first firms to practice socially responsible investing and we have been incorporating ESG criteria into our investments since 1997.

Lastly, we are a privately-owned partnership with a sole focus on wealth management. We do not run any investment banking activities, and we are one of the most stable and best capitalised banks in the world.

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