INVESTING–IN THE–FUTURE

The pandemic has further emphasised the need for diversification among investors while also accelerating the adoption of new assets in the digital space. What comes next? Gulf Business speaks to AIX Investment Group’s board advisor Fadi Dabbagh and senior financial advisor Khalid El-Mikhi

- AARTI NAGRAJ

Gazing out of the glass on the 146th floor of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, I had a reasonably clear panoramic view of the rapidly growing city with only remnants of the morning fog visible.

It is a vista that the executives working at AIX Investment Group – and their growing list of clients – enjoy on a daily basis, even as Dubai’s and the wider GCC’s investment landspace expands, despite the fog that has settled worldwide due to the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted economies in various ways, with most industries struggling to adjust to the crisis. However, the investment landscape has managed to remain fairly buoyant, since the pandemic has fueled a greater need to preserve and grow wealth – both globally, as well as in the GCC region.

“Interestingly, the pandemic does not seem to have adversely affected the demand for investments in the region, but rather seems to have encouraged investors – both individual and institutional – to start assessing the security of their cashflows and to consider building more diverse investment portfolios,” says Fadi Dabbagh, board advisor at Dubaibased AIX Investment Group.

“We have certainly noticed a change in the types of opportunities investors are seeking, but not a reduction in their appetite for investment. On the contrary, the appetite for investment seems to have increased and the number of first-time investors that approached us looking to begin their journey towards financial independence was higher than ever before in 2020. Our data suggests several factors for this, and many of them seem to be direct results of the changes caused by the pandemic.”