Capital preservation the key in the Middle East, says Ahli United Bank

Keeping a lid on risk

When financial dislocation hit world markets, investors were surprised at the high levels of correlation found in portfolios they thought were broadly diversified. In Bahrain, the country with the widest funds in the Gulf's trillion-dollar market, interest rates rapidly declined and implied volatility sky rocketed.

"Low interest rates give you very little room to manoeuvre when you need to create enough for the option premium," says Raghid Mneimne, group head of wealth management and product