Dubai:
About 80 per cent of respondents polled in the Middle East feel that investments returns would be negatively impacted due to current geopolitical environment.
About 84 per cent of the participants feel that Brexit uncertainty to remain in the markets for 6-24 months, according to a poll from the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute.
Responses show that concern about the impact of geopolitical risk in the investment profession has grown since the poll in July 2016. Changes to the geopolitical environment are widely expected to have long-term impacts on the financial markets. The vast majority of respondents (70 per cent) expect investment returns to be compromised by geopolitical uncertainties over the next three to five years. However, despite the risks identified by members in the poll, a large majority of portfolio managers (71 per cent) say that they have not changed their strategy as a result of the Brexit vote.
“The current state of political uncertainty ahead of Article 50 being triggered is having a clear impact on investment professionals’ market expectations. That said, it is important to remember that geopolitical risk is by no means new: apart from the 20 years following 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, geopolitical risk has in fact been a constant feature of financial markets. It is also only one of many challenges and potential drivers of change in the investment industry,” said Paul Smith, CFA, President and Chief Executive of CFA Institute.
The survey of almost 1,500 investment professionals from around the world revealed global investors’ views on the potential repercussions of a rapidly shifting geopolitical climate. It follows a previous membership poll taken in July 2016 on the likely impact of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.