ABN-Amro planning to double Gulf staff

DUBAI: ABN-Amro plans to double its private banking staff in the Gulf region in the next two years to tap a market growing over 20 per cent a year, executives at the bank said yesterday.

It is also expanding in India, China, and Indonesia in part to tap growing Middle Eastern money flowing to Asia as Arab investors diversify their portfolios and seek higher returns.

"We are seeing a significant shift toward investing in Asia," said Barend Janssens, head of private banking for Asia.

"This is due to the growing wealth of the Indian and Pakistani expatriate community in the Gulf and the religious link with Indonesia and Malaysia."

Wealth in the Middle East among those with more than $1 million of liquid assets would grow to between $2.5 and $3.5 trillion at the end of 2007, from $1.75 trillion at the end of 2005, Janssens said. The market was growing at more than 20pc a year, compared to about 15pc a year in Asia, helped by high oil prices and a buoyant global economy, he said.

Arabs traditionally invested their wealth in the US and Europe but were increasingly targeting Chinese IPOs, Indian equity and real estate markets, and direct investments in Malaysian or Indonesian companies, he said.

A crash in Gulf equity markets last year also encouraged Arab investors to boost investments in Asia, Janssens said.