Geopolitics helps drive Middle Eastern money to Asia as wealthy Gulf investors hedge their bets

Geopolitics helps drive Middle Eastern money to Asia as wealthy Gulf investors hedge their bets

Last October, Hong Kong’s highest-ranking financial minister trooped to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city and the home of the Tadawul, its stock exchange. Surrounded by Saudi officials, Paul Chan pressed a button to launch the Middle East’s largest exchange-traded fund. The new ETF has $1.2 billion in assets under management, tracking 30 sharia-compliant companies that trade in the Chinese city. (One company that was excluded? Megabank HSBC, f…

Trump’s tariffs accelerate Gulf-Asia realignment and draw European attention

In the era of renewed global trade protectionism, US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies-designed to promote American industry and reduce dependency on foreign imports-are reverberating far beyond their intended targets. While headlines have focused largely on US-China trade frictions or the implications for American consumers, a less examined but highly consequential outcome is the deepening realignment between the Gulf Cooperation Council…