Business & Money | Tuesday 28 July, 2015 4:17 pm |

New Qualitative report by Citi and Nielsen reveals: Exclusivity and New Experiences amongst New Life Themes of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) in the UAE

 

Report also reveals key attitudes and trends towards wealth management:

 

Arriving HNWI: Respondents are more focused on making planned investments

Upgrading HNWI: Respondents are pragmatic and less risk averse

 

 A recent qualitative report sponsored by Citi and conducted by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, studied the personality of HNWI in the UAE. The results of the research revealed the different needs that they believe are impacting their disposition towards wealth management and analyzed their attitudes towards investments. The participants were represented by a small group of locals and expatriates living in the UAE, namely in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

 

“The wealth management business represents a significant growth opportunity for Citi in the UAE due to rapidly expanding affluent and emerging affluent customer segments,” said Dinesh Sharma, Head of Consumer Banking for the Middle East at Citi. “We continue to focus on building our wealth value proposition to further strengthen the consumer franchise in the region by providing innovative solutions and developing lasting relationships to help our clients build investment portfolios that can create wealth in a sustainable way.”

 

“UAE is a constantly evolving market when it comes to expectations of a “premium & high end lifestyle” by the higher end segment. Financial tools for this segment are seen as enablers of life experiences. Their experience expectations are benchmarked to those offered by high end service providers. Citi has a great opportunity in this space with their international products & solutions,” said Divya Radhakrishnan, Head of Qualitative Research, Middle East Pakistan at Nielsen.

 

 

The research concluded five life themes that HNWI believe are impacting their disposition on wealth and wealth management:
Access to Information	the ability to have relevant information before anyone
Need for Exclusivity	the service provided must be individualized
Indulging in Experience	the indulgence of experiencing new escapades
Focusing on Family	the focus on securing their future
Maximizing Time	the capacity to maximize time to enrich their personal lives

 

 

The research revealed attitudes towards Wealth Management		Citi Solution
Invest back home	Investment in home countries is an attitude dominant in many Asian and Western expats	Citi offers an International Personal Bank (IPB), where  customers are able to manage their wealth offshore and access investment products that may not be available in their current place of residence.
Manage wealth locally and invest globally	Asian and Western expats look to invest in local bonds and fixed term deposits with higher interest rates prior to repatriation.	Citi offers an Online Platform, where clients can trade online and access seven global markets in bonds, equities, mutual funds and exchange traded funds.
Invest in Insurance	Key drivers for the uptake of insurance policies are centered on providing for children, education, and pensions.	Citi offers customers in the Middle East access to Zurich Life Insurance products and solutions.
Family: Leaving a legacy	All respondents believe that wealth belongs to the family, and are continuously looking for tailored products to suit their needs.

 

 

 

 

Citi Wealth Management in the Middle East

Citibank has been serving customers including New Wealth Builders around the Middle East in UAE and Bahrain by providing retail and wealth management services through Citibank, Citigold and Citigold Private Clients. It is currently a major player in the UAE’s credit card market and a leading provider of Wealth Management and Consumer Credit services.

 

Citigold is an offering that combines Citi’s banking and wealth management services to provide solutions to manage customers’ money and build their wealth. Citigold customers are required to maintain a minimum balance across their Citi accounts of USD 100,000. Citigold’s world-class services are inspired by the philosophy that potential is best realized when Citi’s wealth-management expertise plays in harmony with a customer’s business-management acumen. For more information, visit: http://citibank.com/uae/citigold/introduction/intro.htm

 

Established in 1964, Citibank’s branch network in the UAE includes five branches in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, seven financial centers and a network of 75 ATMS located at various commercial centers across the country.

 

 

Methodology:

Sample of 25 participants were spread across males & females in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and comprised of current and potential Citi customers. Each participant earned a minimum income of AED 500,000 annually and invested a minimum of USD 100,000 in liquid cash during the same period of time.

 

Defining HNWI
Arriving HNWI*	These are clients who are currently in their working life span with sheer professional growth achieved in the UAE, and would be destined to stay in this category for the foreseeable future. They come from a relatively simpler lifestyle.
Upgrading HNWI**	These are clients who have been in the HNWI category before and have been growing in the UAE. They will eventually move to the next level of HNWI, i.e. the Ultra HNWI (becoming institutions in themselves).

 

About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://new.citi.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

 

 

About Nielsen

Nielsen N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers Watch and Buy. Nielsen’s Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services across all devices where content—video, audio and text—is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry’s only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen provides its clients with both world-class measurement as well as analytics that help improve performance.  Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries that cover more than 90 percent of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.