Growing more detailed

This article is part of an Executive special report on wealth management and private banking. Read more stories as they’re published here, or pick up September’s issue at newsstands in Lebanon. The GCC continues to be a standout region for wealth creation. Investable and liquid assets grew by 15 to 20 percent each year from 2009 to 2013, reaching around $2.2 trillion in the region, according to our forthcoming study “GCC Private Banking 2014–2015.” Wealth management centers such as Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait have seen particularly robust growth in individuals’ assets, fuelled by increasing domestic wealth and inflows from politically unstable countries elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. For the near future, the Middle East will remain an attractive but complex wealth management opportunity. Private bankers must pay close attention to its cultural and economic characteristics as well as regulatory issues, especially when operating across borders.