HSBC Sees Opportunity in U.A.E., Qatar Shares Amid Unrest - Bloomberg

United Arab Emirates and Qatari shares have been “overly punished” by political turmoil spreading throughout the Middle East and North Africa, according to HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Ltd.

The U.A.E. and Qatar “are arguably the two most stable economies in the region and the only ones that haven’t had any sort of unrest so far,” Andrea Nannini, a senior fund manager at HSBC Global, said in an interview in Hong Kong today. “For us, that gives an opportunity because there’s a disconnect between what the market is pricing in, in terms of risk, and what the actual risk is.”

Political turmoil from Libya to Oman have deterred investors and the Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of Gulf shares has declined 11 percent since the ouster of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on Jan. 14. That compares with a 12 percent drop in Dubai’s measure in the same period and a 6 percent drop in Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index.