When it comes to investment management in the Middle East, the sovereign wealth funds of the Gulf Arab oil exporters grab the spotlight. After all, the funds of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates-amount to a heady $1.8 trillion. Yet there's more to asset management in the region than just these sovereign players. Institutional and retail asset managers have been making strides of their own. Gulf oil wealth has filled private as well as public coffers, driving up demand for investment expertise. As a result, the number of asset managers in the Middle East and North Africa has risen roughly fourfold over the past decade, to 137, according to a survey sponsored in 2012 by companies including audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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