- The Bridgewater Associates founder spoke on a CNBC panel at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, with particular emphasis on the United Arab Emirates.
- “Today we’re talking about how the world order is changing and how this region, the GCC region, is becoming an important region,” Dalio told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on stage. We’re talking about…it’s a renaissance nation.”
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Amid turbulent global conditions, hedge fund titan Ray Dalio sees certain regions of the world as promising for investors. It is a Gulf country in the Middle East.
The Bridgewater Associates founder spoke on a CNBC panel at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, with particular emphasis on the United Arab Emirates.
“We are talking today about how the world order is changing and how this region, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, is becoming an important region. It’s a classic. It’s a renaissance nation. We’re talking about a renaissance right now.’ Here’s what happens within this larger geopolitical and economic environment,” Dalio told CNBC on Tuesday. told Dan Murphy.
Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates is the world’s largest hedge fund, with assets under management of $97.2 billion as of September 2023. Latest annual report Through pensions and investments. The billionaire investor opened a new branch of his family office, the Dalio Family Office, in Abu Dhabi in April, expanding into the Middle East and expanding existing locations in the US and Singapore. Complemented.
Mr Dalio said the UAE was “a renaissance nation”. “What I’m saying is, fundamentally what I’m asking is, are you making more than you spend? [do] Do you have a good income statement? Do you have a good balance sheet? Are your assets greater than your liabilities? ”
He continued, “Do you have a culture where you develop people and those people work together to be productive?”
“And number four, are you outside of a great power conflict? Are you in the middle of a war? Or are you outside of a war? So I look around the world at where I want to go. “Invest where I want to be, and this region is very attractive and at a take-off point for reasons that have been discussed in other sessions.”
Many economic commentators believe that the Gulf states, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, leverage their oil resources, geographical location between eastern and western markets, and long-term development plans to make them very attractive locations for both foreign investment and financing. It has been pointed out that
As of July, there were 40 registered hedge funds in the UAE’s glitzy commercial capital, with more than a third of them having been registered in the past 12 months, according to the Dubai International Financial Center. The majority set up shop in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, when relatively relaxed regulations and financial liberalization reforms ushered in a new wave of foreign investment. Most of these funds are regional subsidiaries of companies based in London or New York.
Large sovereign wealth funds in the region are spending more than ever as oil prices soar in recent years.
The region’s 10 largest sovereign wealth funds collectively managed about $4 trillion in early 2023, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. This is more than the gross domestic product of France or the United Kingdom, and does not include private financing. According to SWFI, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund alone manages more than $700 billion in assets.
These numbers, and the fund’s willingness to make large-scale investments in advanced industries around the world, are driving visible feedback from venture capitalists and startup founders in areas such as fintech, digital transformation, and renewable energy technologies. It’s attracting interest.
Geopolitically, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are also among the so-called “middle powers” and maintain good relations with Western countries and powerful countries such as Russia and China. This allows us to leverage these relationships to maximize our advantages in trade and political influence.
These countries have played a mediating role in the Ukraine-Russia war and engaged with Israel formally and unofficially with the rest of the Muslim world, while avoiding becoming drawn into the escalating war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Ta.
The rise of so-called “middle powers” in mediating such large-scale conflicts heralds the arrival of a new world in which decisions can be made by players beyond the United States and the West, and where small states are not forced into ties with the United States. Suggests. Russia or China.
With a recent wave of mega-listings across the Gulf region, the lure of high dividends is a big draw for global investors.
Rustam Azmi | Getty Images
Dalio said this is also important in building its global standing as America’s influence in the world and region weakens.
“In a broader sense, there’s a serious war going on in Europe, there’s a serious war going on in the Middle East, there’s a regime change going on,” Dalio said. “We used to have overwhelming power…The United States will play a bigger role in influencing things. Now we have a test of power, and it’s happening in many different ways. And we’re in that period now, I’m thinking about greater disorder, which has economic implications.”
Dalio said the Gulf state’s financial situation, regulatory environment and, so far, political stability, especially its ability to stay out of major conflicts, are critical for institutional investors.
“As an investor, I would like to emphasize that the important thing is to first know how to diversify properly, and the four qualities I mentioned earlier: a good income statement, a good balance sheet, and a good etiquette. “It’s about being in a place that has great character and people and a renaissance state outside of a country in major conflict,” he said.
“We’re seeing the region continue to thrive and be able to thrive in places like the Gulf.”