| Kippreport.com

Interview: Middle East investors choose emerging debt & gold

September 22, 2010 1:04 by Reuters

Yield-seeking Middle East investors are chasing exposure to emerging markets amid a low interest rate environment in more developed nations, an official at Swiss private bank Julius Baer told Reuters.

“Clients are still looking for some yield and yield will normally not be achieved through traditional investments or fiduciary deposits. Emerging markets offer these opportunities to quite some extent,” said Peter Schaer, managing director and chief executive for the bank’s Middle East operations.

Within emerging markets, clients are looking for exposure mainly to China, India and other Asian markets, the executive said in an interview.

Risk aversion stemming from the global financial crisis is also forcing investors to opt for the safety of gold and fixed-income products in the emerging market space, he added.

Investment demand for gold has risen this year as concerns over the global economy, the stability of financial markets and the outlook for currencies boost buying of the metal as a safe store of value.

“They (investors) are looking at some investments in precious metals, gold for instance. That can be in physical or in solutions or products that are created with precious metals,” said Schaer, who joined the bank this year from Swiss bank gaint UBS.

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