Friday, 20 February 2009

Time for simple products has come

Dubai: In a comprehensive account of the credit crunch's impact on the Gulf's financial markets, Fadi Al Saeed, Head of Equities, ING Investment Management Middle East, tells Gulf News' Quarterly Financial Review about the need for simplification of products, consolidation of financial centres, and diversification of assets in accordance with personal need

Gulf News: For many people the financial sector as a whole is substantially to blame for the credit crunch. What impact have you witnessed in the area of wealth management, and how can potential investors feel comfortable with investment itself and investment advisers generally when so much has obviously gone wrong in terms of exposure and returns?

Al Saaed: This confidence and trust issue - it's the base of this industry. You go to a bank and deposit your own money, your savings. You do that because you believe in the image, the brand, the trustworthiness of the bank. Now, unfortunately, recent events have shown that some of the banks, more precisely some of the practices of banks [and more so investment banks], were actually focusing on the kind of return, not on what could be the long-term impact. And they were geared towards structuring risky products that people did not understand.

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