A lot has happened in the two years since I last interviewed you for the fund distributor profile, so how has your strategy evolved or changed?
Two years in the lifetime of the Middle East is not long. Our strategy we put in place five to 10 years ago has not changed a great deal. What we have seen in the past two years in the region has been more of a sense of the markets that are doing well from the perspective of us as fund distributors.
We are seeing continued success of the UAE in particular. We do business in all the GCC countries but the UAE, from a distribution perspective, is standing out strongly.
As a business we have grown substantially during the last 10 years, the past two included. The opportunity is there for us to broaden our business from some of the existing bases we originally had. Saudi Arabia, for example, is a market we will keep a close eye on for the future.
What is the size of Invesco’s assets in different regions?
As is true of most asset managers, we are still heavily weighted towards institutional business, particularly sovereign funds. Of the balance that is wholesale, the vast majority of it is sourced from the UAE.
In terms of what the opportunity might be in Saudi Arabia, it would be down to specific distribution opportunities with specific banks.
We will see the direction of travel of some of the banks over the next two to three years as the Saudi market opens up.
A venture with one of those banks is something we would be interested in exploring if the right bank was available to talk to. Again, it all depends on the demand for the kind of product set we have, which is very global in nature.
How has the relationship with the international life companies evolved over the past two years?
The insurance business is the largest part of our wholesale operation. The marketplace has changed but I have been dealing with the life companies for 30 years and there has always been change in that environment, with M&A activity and so on.
As corporate activity is taking place there is a constant review of what funds are on the panel but also what kind of service proposition the asset managers have.
