Rise of the female factor
By Jane Kinninmont, Special to Financial Review
Published: August 27, 2007, 23:07
With so much cash at their disposal, women have received comparatively little attention in the financial field in the Gulf. But are the faces changing in regional banking?
A significant proportion of the privately-held financial assets in the Gulf is owned by women. Yet, despite the success of a few prominent women in Gulf banking, most women remain less likely than their male counterparts to actively invest their capital.
Bramdean, a London-based fund management firm, has recently estimated that about $40 billion (about Dh 146.9 billion) of personal wealth in the Gulf is owned by women — and that up to 60 per cent of this is held as cash.
This is an underexploited market, presenting a significant opportunity for the financial services industry (asset managers, private equity funds and banks) to tap into. Questions arise.
Where is the potential?
The biggest opportunity is in Saudi Arabia, the largest market in the GCC. Although women hold no political offices in the kingdom and make up less than two per cent of the private-sector workforce, they own about one-third of the money in the banking system, partly as a result of Sharia inheritance laws. According to local media reports, women also control 20 per cent of the capital in Saudi mutual funds. But much of the wealth owned by women is just sitting there, essentially as dead capital.
Of course there are exceptions, but as a general rule, Saudi Arabia's particularly tight restrictions on gender-mixing have acted as a barrier to women becoming more actively engaged in investing their capital in financial portfolios. Traditionally, Saudi women had to use a male agent (wakeel), often a relative, to conduct financial transactions on their behalf, and although the legal requirements for using an agent have been eased, it will take time for actual practice to catch up. But there is now increasing demand from Saudi women for direct access to financial services through female staff.
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Rise of the female factor
By Jane Kinninmont, Special to Financial Review
Published: August 27, 2007, 23:07
With so much cash at their disposal, women have received comparatively little attention in the financial field in the Gulf. But are the faces changing in regional banking?
A significant proportion of the privately-held financial assets in the Gulf is owned by women. Yet, despite the success of a few prominent women in Gulf banking, most women remain less likely than their male counterparts to actively invest their capital.
Bramdean, a London-based fund management firm, has recently estimated that about $40 billion (about Dh 146.9 billion) of personal wealth in the Gulf is owned by women — and that up to 60 per cent of this is held as cash.
This is an underexploited market, presenting a significant opportunity for the financial services industry (asset managers, private equity funds and banks) to tap into. Questions arise.
Where is the potential?
The biggest opportunity is in Saudi Arabia, the largest market in the GCC. Although women hold no political offices in the kingdom and make up less than two per cent of the private-sector workforce, they own about one-third of the money in the banking system, partly as a result of Sharia inheritance laws. According to local media reports, women also control 20 per cent of the capital in Saudi mutual funds. But much of the wealth owned by women is just sitting there, essentially as dead capital.
Of course there are exceptions, but as a general rule, Saudi Arabia's particularly tight restrictions on gender-mixing have acted as a barrier to women becoming more actively engaged in investing their capital in financial portfolios. Traditionally, Saudi women had to use a male agent (wakeel), often a relative, to conduct financial transactions on their behalf, and although the legal requirements for using an agent have been eased, it will take time for actual practice to catch up. But there is now increasing demand from Saudi women for direct access to financial services through female staff.