The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s asset management segment is poised to remain stronger this year, media reports said. The projection is carried out by global audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG. The consultancy firm indicates that the Kingdom will witness a surge in foreign investors.
According to the report, the Kingdom’s asset management firms held $125.6 billion worth of assets under management as of September last year, pointing to a 14 percent surge compared to the same period in 2019. Furthermore, the segments that faced the biggest challenges in terms of operations during the lockdown include: hospitality, travel, entertainment, retail and high street
Ovais Shahab, head of financial services at KPMG in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, told the media, “A resilient asset management industry has withstood the two-fold challenges posed by the decline in oil prices and the Covid-19 pandemic, whereby investor redemptions have been limited and asset prices have either been stable or have rebounded,” said Ovais Shahab, head of financial services at KPMG in Saudi Arabia. The industry is well prepared to play a pivotal role in providing the necessary impetus to the overall economic recovery. We expect some of the smaller players within these sectors to either exit the market as it may no longer be viable for them to remain in business, or be up for acquisition/consolidation/part sale by the larger companies operating in the respective sector.”
The overall global asset management segment was volatile during 2020 and hopes to perform well this year.