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| Source: Emirates Islamic. Jamal (left) and Dugan (right). |
Emirates Islamic, a UAE-based Islamic financial institution has shared the investment outlook for 2017 with its wealth management clients in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Presented by Gary Dugan, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for Emirates NBD, Dealing with Global Disruptors - Investment Outlook for 2017 detailed disruptions to the global economy in the last year which have created challenges to conventional wisdom. Citing events such as Brexit, US President Donald Trump’s victory, the rise of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the launch of the Tesla car as global disruptors, Dugan said: “These political and technological events were major surprises to global financial markets, and have triggered significant shifts in the valuations of currencies and asset classes. More importantly, they have forced investors around the globe to rethink their long-term investment strategies.”
Explaining that the disruptions to conventional wisdom would most likely continue through 2017, Dugan advised, "Given the ongoing volatile global economic and political environment, it is important to invest in countries and sectors that offer long term growth and value. We believe for example, that sectors like technology and healthcare and countries like India offer relative value in current environment. As a general principle, investments should focus on preserving capital, while at the same time achieving reasonable profit levels.”
“Gold continues to play an important role for us. The yellow metal price has continued to deliver returns and remains a key diversification component for investment portfolios,” he added.
The investment outlook event was in keeping with Emirates Islamic’s vision to be a leading Islamic bank in the region. The bank has continued to build on its long-term relationship with customers, through a ‘customer first’ approach, which focuses on personalised financial services.
Jamal Bin Ghalaita, CEO, Emirates Islamic said: “Wealth management is one of the key pillars of the banking proposition at Emirates Islamic, and we aim to provide personalised wealth advisory services to our clients through a comprehensive platform, backed by in-depth knowledge in Islamic finance and extensive expertise in local and regional investments. The continued collaboration with global Islamic finance solutions providers also empowers Emirates Islamic to provide additional value to clients, and enables us to move closer to our goal of becoming the preferred provider of shari’ah-compliant wealth management solutions in the region.”
