Strong economy, low debt, lack of currency risk and high reserves make the GCC region stand out as an attractive investment opportunity, a webinar heard.

 

These attributes also differentiate GCC from other emerging markets (EMs), the webinar hosted by Kuwait Financial Centre 'Markaz' said.

 

The webinar titled ‘GCC Markets: An Attractive EM Allocation Play,’ was presented by M R Raghu – CEO, Marmore MENA Intelligence, the research arm of Markaz. 

 

GCC equities are also generally considered a strong oil play by certain fund managers due to their economic growth being largely driven by oil revenues, it said. 

 

The weightage of GCC stocks in the MSCI EM index witnessed a steep rise from 0.85% at the end of 2014 to 7.3% at the end of April 2023. The favourable economic and business environment in the GCC is likely to increase the weightage of GCC companies within the MSCI EM index in the years ahead. 

 

GCC markets have a strong pipeline of IPOs, mainly focusing on State-owned entities. These companies are likely to expand the presence of GCC companies forming a part of the MSCI EM index. 

 

The webinar concluded with the key takeaway that GCC markets present an interesting island of opportunities within the emerging market space that can be tapped by fund managers. -TradeArabia News Service