Searching for security

The cataclysmic crash in global financial markets in 2008 was a smack in the face with a wet fish for both bankers and investors alike. A new reality emerged in its wake: gone were the days of carefree flurries into magnificently low-risk and high-return financial products fueled by seemingly boundless levels of borrowing. After a high-octane binge of hedonism and excess the hangover kicked in. Many investors, left reeling from their losses, woke up to the sober realization that, in the words of Al Ahli Investment Group Managing Director Nael Raad, “nothing is safe”. Daniel Diemers, principal at Booz &Company, explained: “Clients shifted their assets towards simple, transparent, liquidity-oriented products with lower margins. Structured products in particular fell from favor, and clients largely retreated from risky and complex asset classes.”  From Spring 2009 to late 2010, confidence returned to the markets and many investors were once again upping their risk