GCC Women Association

"The GCC region is blessed with vast hydrocarbon deposits, sparking a quantum leap in national’s standards of living and wealth. Prior to oil wealth GCC nationals depended on trading, fishing, pearl diving and animal rearing for survival. If we have to estimate a point in time where the majority of GCC nationals experienced exponential growth and lavish life styles it would be during the first oil boom in the 1970’s, which ushered an era of sudden prosperity and growth, driven by high government spending. Women participation rate in the first oil boom riches was limited due to the prevailing socio-cultural dynamics; hence men were the direct benefactors of government largesse. With newly created wealth, came the regional and international bankers, offering their services to clients. Wealth managers were put on a high pedestal and admired as an official source of investment knowledge though some took advantage of this trust by pushing products and churning portfolios rather than advising and putting the client’s best interest first. International private bankers were in demand due to two reasons; 1) wealth created was too extensive to be absorbed in domestic markets without leading to extreme asset inflation (Kuwait Souq Al Manakh in the early eighties is a prime example) 2) Money managers sold the idea of diversification, capital preservation and security to clients. We could safely assume that private bankers and professional money managers gained prestige and eminence after the fact i.e, not during the wealth creation phase, but, during the maintenance phase. In the beginning, wealth was amassed by generous government contracts and lavish government postings to some extent. During this period men amassed the wealth due to social aspects of GCC societies, where men and women had specific roles. Men were bread winners while women managed the house hold and developed the new generation. That been said product offerings were constricted to men who based on several research polling suggest that they tend to: 1) be more risk takers 2) have higher stock turnover velocity than women 3) have more conviction in their decisions (even if it turned out wrong) Products were tailored to men’s high risk appetite and legacy, thereby curtailing women’s involvement in managing/creating wealth. "