Fund raising is at low levels and investor confidence has plunged with the worsening political upheavals across the Middle East and North Africa region, said Middle Eastern private equity executives who had hoped that the Arab Spring would bring a pool of new investment opportunities. “We as private equity firms would like to forget about 2011 and pretend it never existed,” said Emad Mansour, chief executive of Qatar First Investment Bank at a conference in Dubai.

Population of high net worth individuals(HNWI) across the world expanded and wealth accumulation in 2010 surpassed 2007 pre-crisis levels in nearly every region. Population of HNWIs increased by 8.3% to 10.9 million in 2010 and financial wealth of HNWIs grew 9.7% to reach $42.7 trillion compared to 17.1% and 18.9% respectively in 2009.

A two-speed global recovery will extend into 2011, with developed countries growing slowly while emerging-market economies power ahead, the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist predicted. In an interview with the lender’s online magazine, IMF Survey, Olivier Blanchard said the necessity for countries to rebalance their economies by letting exchange rates adjust more freely while taking steps to control debt remains vital.

Islamic private equity funds in the Arabian Gulf plan to take advantage of lower asset prices after the property market in Dubai tumbled as much as 50% from its peak in 2008.“We want to take advantage of massive dislocations that have taken place in this market over the past three years,” Yahya Jalil, director of private equity at The National Investor, said.

Dubai’s image as the Singapore of the Middle East is being tested as it tries to clamp down on excesses such as fraud and overdevelopment, which came with an explosion of people and investment. Its judicial system still has a long way to go to catch up with Western nations that it aspires to emulate, say lawyers and economists who work there.

Diversification is the key to higher returns. The aim of a well-diversified portfolio is to mitigate risk, yield stable returns and provide ample liquidity. It is unwise to put all your eggs in one basket. Diversification involves investing your money across various asset classes.

FDI flows to the Middle East has contracted by 24 per cent to $68 billion (Dh249.75 billion) in 2009, according to World Investment Report. "Except in the case of Kuwait, Lebanon and Qatar, inward FDI declined across the region. The contraction hit Turkey and the United Arab Emirates the hardest. In Turkey, cross-border mergers and acquisitions plummeted, and export-oriented industries suffered from the impact of the global crisis," the report said.

Saudi Arabia will spend more than $100 billion to establish 16 nuclear energy plants in different parts of the country within the next few years, Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza told a Saudi-US business forum in Atlanta. He made this comment while talking about the Kingdom's efforts to develop solar and other renewable energy technologies to reduce dependence on oil and gas.

KUWAIT: Overall net profits of Kuwaiti firms listed on the Kuwait Stock exchange plummeted by more than 90 percent last year due to the global economic meltdown, an economic study said.

Qatar’s inflation fell 0.79% in June mainly on easing of rents and lower prices of food as well as garments. The consumer price index (CPI) for the first six months of this year showed an overall downward trend with the general CPI 2.6% lower than in January, the Qatar Statistical Authority (QSA) said. The average price level fell in June after rising consecutively in April and May.

The Kingdom-based global investment and asset management group, Investcorp said its full-year profits to June slumped by half when compared to the fiscal 2007, as the global credit crisis hit its deal volumes and investment returns.

Omani officials are considering a new law that will address potential problems in the real estate industry arising as a result of the global financial crisis, according to the recent GCC real estate report by Global Investment House.