Survival focus
Brendan Dolan, regional director at Old Mutual International said: “‘The adviser landscape is changing rapidly and it is important advisers adapt their business model if they are to survive in this new world.
Other key findings of MEIP 2016 survey included:
- That just 24.0% of advisers saw geopolitical risks as presenting a commercial opportunity, while 58.0% see a potential challenge. (In 2011, in the wake of the Arab Spring, the corresponding figures were 30.2% and 62.7%).
- Four in five (82%) advisers felt that mutual funds had to become more competitively pricedAlmost one in three advisers (29%) would be cutting clients’ exposure to GCC equities.
- To counter the threat of client risk-aversion, 70% see technology and electronic processing as a major opportunity, showing that they believe efficiency gains can compensate for macro-uncertainty.
The findings are based on a survey of 244 advisers who completed a questionnaire either online, by Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) or, in the case of senior executives, face-to-face.
The respondents included independent financial advisers (IFAs) as well as executives who are employed by private banks, commercial banks and other financial institutions. The typical adviser in the survey was aged between 30 and 50 years of age, is based in the UAE and comes from the UK or India.
