A top financial expert has forecasted that there will be an increased foreign investment in regionally-based structured products and funds in the near future in the Middle East.

The outlook from Gilles Rollet, chief executive officer of Mirabaud (Middle East) Limited, came as part of a speech made at this year’s Structured Products Middle East conference, held this week in Dubai.

Rollet said investors from outside the Gulf region were looking for investment vehicles with healthy returns that were based in stable environments.

'Structured products based in the Gulf, particularly hedge funds, are the perfect example. Bahrain leads the region with 57 funds worth around $2.6 billion, and Dubai is determined to establish a competent global hedge fund centre,' he noted.

Rollet went on to describe the regulatory moves cities in the Gulf have made in order to create healthy financial environments suitable to the creation of hedge funds.

Dubai’s creation of its hedge fund code, Bahrain’s introduction of its collective investment scheme regulations and Qatar’s launch of its Qatar Financial Centre were seen as the most prominent examples.

Rollet added: “We are seeing very significant investment groups, opening offices here. Foreign institutional investment is looking for world-class opportunities, and they are finding them here.”-TradeArabia News Service