Wealth in the UAE: Sizing the Market Opportunity 2016

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The UAE is a dynamic market due to government attempts to diversify the economy, but it remains highly reliant on the oil and gas industry. The expat population constitutes a very large part of the affluent and HNW segments, which in addition to the relatively underdeveloped local stock markets explains why a large proportion of wealth is held offshore. Nevertheless, the future growth of onshore assets will remain positive.

Scope

Verdict Financial’s “Wealth in the UAE: Sizing the Market Opportunity 2016” analyzes the UAE wealth and retail savings and investments markets, with a focus on the HNW segment. The report is based on our proprietary datasets.

Specifically the report:

– Sizes the affluent market (both by number of individuals and the value of their liquid assets) using our proprietary datasets.

– Analyzes which asset classes are favored by the UAE’s investors and how their preferences impact the growth of the total savings and investments market.

– Examines HNW clients’ attitudes towards non-liquid investments such as property and commodities.

– Identifies key drivers and booking centers for offshore investments.

Reasons to Buy

– Benchmark your share of the UAE wealth market against the current market size.

– Forecast your future growth prospects using our projections for the market to 2020.

– Identify your most promising client segment by analyzing penetration of affluent individuals in the UAE.

– Evaluate your HNW proposition by understanding how the UAE tax system will impact HNW clients.

– Review your offshore strategy by learning HNW motivations for offshore investments and their preferred booking centers.

Cluttons
Emirates REITs
Reidin

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Most of the UAE's HNW wealth is allocated offshore

Key findings

Critical success factors

SIZING AND FORECASTING THE WEALTH MARKET IN THE UAE

DRIVERS FOR GROWTH IN THE UAE WEALTH MARKET

Stock market performance affects the growth of the UAE wealth market

HNW INVESTMENT PREFERENCES

HNW individuals allocate over a third of their investible assets outside of traditional investments

UAE investors prefer commodities to alternatives

India is the most popular booking center for Emirati HNW individuals

APPENDIX

Abbreviations and acronyms

Supplementary data

Definitions

Affluent

DTC

FATCA

HNW

Liquid assets

Mass affluent

Onshore

Residency

Exchange of information

TIEAs

Methodology

2016 Global Wealth Managers Survey

Verdict Financial's Global Wealth Model methodology

Global Retail Investments Analytics methodology

Exchange rates

Bibliography

Further reading

About Verdict Financial

Disclaimer

Table

Table 1: UAE taxation, 2016

Table 2: UAE: adult population segmented by affluent category and asset band (000s), 2011?15

Table 3: UAE: adult population segmented by affluent category and asset band (000s), 2016f?20f

Table 4: UAE: total onshore liquid assets segmented by affluent category and asset band ($bn), 2011?15

Table 5: UAE: total onshore liquid assets segmented by affluent category and asset band ($bn), 2016f?20f

Table 6: Emirati dirham to US dollar exchange rate, December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015

Figures

Figure 1: UAE's HNW individuals account for less than 1% of the total population

Figure 2: UAE's millionaires account for less than 1% of individuals but hold almost a third of liquid assets

Figure 3: The UAE's retail savings and investments market is set to grow steadily

Figure 4: Stock market performance affects the growth of the UAE wealth market

Figure 5: GDP growth strongly affects investments

Figure 6: REITs constitute the bulk of investments outside traditional asset classes

Figure 7: Bonds are the most popular asset class

Figure 8: Ties to the offshore country and tax efficiency drive investors

Figure 9: India is the most popular booking center for Emirati HNW individuals

Figure 10: The UAE has 72 DTCs in force

Frequently asked questions

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