The Middle East is expected to offer the highest growth potential for private capital in 2025, according to global asset managers polled in a survey.
A significant 39 per cent of attendees at Apex Invest Abu Dhabi, and who were surveyed, ranked the region as offering the highest growth potential for private capital deployment in 2025, followed by Asia-Pacific (30 per cent) and North America (22 per cent).
Europe, Africa, and South America rated less highly amid various socioeconomic and geopolitical factors.
The Abu Dhabi event, organised by leading global financial services provider Apex Group in mid-November, saw the participation of regional asset managers from major firms, including Mubadala, ADIC, ADIA, ADQ, PIF and OIA.
The event also saw participation from family offices and investor institutions.
“The Middle East remains an attractive proposition for asset managers, with various government initiatives, private sector reforms, and strong capital inflows driving investment into the region’s domestic markets,” said Christiane El Habre, Regional Managing Director – Middle East, Apex Group.
“This is creating opportunities for asset managers who can allocate capital productively and create returns via active management strategies,” he said.
Surveyed asset managers also predicted private equity (PE), and venture capital (VC) presented the greatest opportunities to find alpha – beating benchmarked market returns – in the short-term and outstripping other asset classes.
The results follow moves to active asset management strategies, with PE and VC firms planning increased engagement with portfolio companies to drive returns and safeguard impact.
Attendees also agreed private credit will remain an attractive asset class.
However, despite the optimistic outlook on the Middle East, managers reiterated several challenges in achieving portfolio diversification goals.
Fifty-four per cent highlighted access to quality assets is a key constraint, while 21 per cent indicated market volatility is impeding progress.
Apex Invest Abu Dhabi is a premier investor networking event, held as part of the Apex Invest Events series, bringing allocators and asset managers together for exclusive insights, knowledge-sharing, and curated relationship building opportunities.
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