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ABN Amro Bank eyes regional expansion
DUBAI — ABN Amro Bank N.V., which has moved its Middle East private banking operations to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), hopes to grow its assets under management from regional clients, a senior executive of the bank said on Monday.
In the Middle East and Asia, the bank focuses its strengths through a presence in three international markets — the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong — while maintaining a global network for clients with international and cross-border lifestyle needs.
“We are focusing on the UAE, Qatar and to a lesser extent on Bahrain and Oman,” Didier Duret, chief investment officer at ABN Amro Private Banking Global Strategy and Research told reporters at a Press conference in Dubai.
Duret said that the bank remains overweight on emerging market equities and high-rated corporate bonds.
“We are currently strongly overweight on 40 global corporate bonds including Commercial Bank of Qatar, Qtel (Qatar Telecom) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi,” he said.
“The bank’s global assets under management (AUM) amount to €120 billion, out of which, 35 per cent is in emerging markets,” Hassan El Nahas, the bank’s head of the Middle East operations, said.
“AUM in the Middle East are 5 per cent of the total global assets,” El Nahas said, adding: “ABN Amro has identified the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore as growth areas and 2010 is a year of putting the money back to work.”
He said that returns in 2008 were not very good and last year was a year of recovery. The current year is a year for investments and clients should define a plan to come back to the market, he said. “With this move, ABN Amro Private Banking renews our commitment to the Middle East and allows us to continue to serve our clients. We will continue to provide our clients – who have entrusted us with the fulfilment of their financial needs – with the same high level of service to which they are accustomed. Our industry has faced challenging times of late, yet we believe our future to be dynamic with plenty of opportunities for growth,” El Nahas said.
ABN Amro was acquired by a consortium of banks consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Banco Santander through RFS Holdings in October 2007. In December 2008, the share in RFS held by Fortis was transferred to the Dutch state and on April 1, 2010, these units were separated and named ABN Amro Bank N.V.
· abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com
· With inputs from agencies
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