WEALTH MANAGEMENT & PRIVATE BANKING
ON THE CUSP OF CHANGE:
Wealth in the Middle East The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating pre-existing trends in the industry as private bankers and wealth managers are shifting the way they deliver advice and serve clients
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he private banking and wealth management sector is evolving and the market within the Middle East region is no exception. According to Capgemini Research Institute’s World Wealth Report 2021, the population of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in the Middle East region grew by 6.8% to 800,000, while their wealth soared by 10.7% to $3.2 trillion in 2020. Two years into the pandemic, there is no doubt that 2021 was profitable for private banks and wealth managers as mainstream markets have continued to perform and investors in the region are diversifying further into private and alternative assets. The outbreak of the coronavirus created some exceptional
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challenges for all industries and in the private banking and wealth management sector, it is driving pre-existing trends as wealth managers are changing the way they deliver advice and serve clients. “The acceleration in market and competitive wealth management trends, along with the confidence many firms have gained in their remote delivery capability, have set the stage for a strategic reset of firm operating models,” said Deloitte. Meanwhile, the changes in demographics, technology, environment and social behaviors have set the ground for rapid transformation in the private banking and wealth management industry. Private bankers and wealth managers are being confronted by the
Banking and Finance news in the MEA market
task of balancing the traditional approach to risk management with the need to respond quickly to the ongoing health crisis that has created massive changes to their operating environment. BlackRock said that the pandemic i s a c c e l e ra t i n g d i g i t i s a t i o n o f processes and client propositions, a shift towards centralized portfolio and risk management amid increasing focus on responsible investing while e m p h a s i z i n g t h e ro l e of we a l t h m a n a g e rs i n s u p p o r t i n g s o c i o economic ecosystems. O n e of t h e b i g g e st e m e rg i n g trends last year was environmental, social, and governance (ESG). The investment theme is increasingly attracting attention from both investors and lawmakers alike, thanks to the strategy’s promise of utilising a range of non-financial information to better align finance with long-term value and societal values. “ W i t h t h e p ro l i fe ra t i o n of investment products, digitalisation, the heterogeneous nature of client bases and the need to integrate strong sustainability
