The poll was carried out at Invesco’s eighth Dubai Investment Meeting, which was attended by over 180 intermediaries.
38% saw emerging market monetary tightening as the most important issue affecting global financial markets. This was followed by the tapering of quantitative easing policies and geopolitical uncertainty which received 31% and 22% of the vote respectively.
The poll also found that the Eurozone crisis was now a major concern for only 7% of intermediaries, despite being of paramount importance in 2013.
Nick Tolchard, head of Invesco Middle East, said: “Despite the obvious challenges faced by the tapering of quantitative easing and emerging market monetary tightening, the abatement of the Eurozone crisis, which was the key concern in 2013, is indicative of returning confidence among the Middle East investment community generally.”
The poll also found that 67% of the respondents either feel positively or very positively about global economic growth prospects for 2014, an increase from 56% in 2013 and 38% in 2012.
The region’s most favoured asset class was found to be equities, with 48% of the vote. But a third of intermediaries said 20% – 50% of their clients’ portfolios are currently allocated to multi-asset products, with two thirds expecting multi-asset allocations to increase over the next two years.
Tolchard said that high allocation to multi asset funds from clients in the Middle East indicated the increasing popularity of the asset class as a way to both diversify portfolios in the current climate and manage risk and increase returns.
