It’s Called “Punting”

Growing wealth in the region and especially in the financial market is not just about personal achievement or betterment, or striving to further yourself; it is also about pride and the arrogance that comes with being able to make a change in the market. HNWI in this region want to show that they know more than others. They are not necessarily very strategic with their decisions regarding the growth of their wealth. “A lot of their decisions are not based on fundamentals or well thought through strategies … we call it punting. Arabs punt…” said Rahil a financial trader at Citigroup Dubai. It’s based on what friends say; it’s about moving prices and feeling like they control the market.



A lot of their wealth comes from inherited (oil) money, so what they make at the equities market for instance may not impact their wealth. They will stay rich… It’s more about the buzz or thrill that they get out of growing their money. It’s not really a career like others have made it out to be, but more of a hobby. “For them it’s discretionary for a bit of a kick!!” Rahil adds.

This mainly stems from the fact that it’s all new. It goes without saying, there will always be HNWIs in the region, who have been in it long before the market has. They are wiser and more controlled decision makers. However in totality the wealth/money market is all pretty new.
For the financial advisors, banks and other experts in the field, the region does not even qualify as an emerging market as yet. It’s called a frontier. Things will change however, and for some very soon, as the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait will move into the emerging markets position in the next year or so. It’s only a matter of time before the learning curve makes the change required for the market to make this leap.

Some speculate … “if gambling was made legal, the region’s equities market could collapse!!!”