Kuwait Stock Exchange: Investment environment is changing at an accelerating pace, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence and data
Noura Al-Abdulkarim, Head of the Markets Sector at the Kuwait Stock Exchange, stated that the investment environment is evolving at an accelerating pace, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence and data, geopolitical shifts, and the growth of private markets. This underscores the growing importance of direct dialogue with global research and investment institutions.
In a press statement issued on Sunday to mark Kuwait’s recent hosting of the MSCI Institutional Investor Forum, Al-Abdulkarim discussed the key transformations reshaping global markets and their implications for portfolio construction, asset allocation, and risk management. She noted that Kuwait’s selection as the host reflects the rising prominence of the Kuwaiti capital markets within the region’s institutional investment ecosystem. Al-Abdulkarim affirmed the Kuwait Stock Exchange’s commitment to providing listed companies, investors, and market participants with direct access to the latest global research, insights, and best practices, emphasizing the exchange’s belief that knowledge and high-quality information are fundamental to supporting market efficiency and enabling more informed investment decisions.
The statement quoted Justin Kennedy Lund, MSCI’s Head for the Middle East, who said that investment institutions are currently operating in an environment characterized by accelerating geopolitical and technological shifts and increasing interconnectivity between public and private markets. He highlighted the heightened importance of specialized research, high-quality data, and advanced analytical tools in understanding risks and opportunities and in building portfolios that are more resilient to change. Lund praised the collaboration with the Kuwait Stock Exchange in bringing together investors, decision-makers, and experts to discuss issues reshaping the global investment landscape, expressing his gratitude for hosting the forum for the second consecutive year.
Ashley Lester, Head of Research and Development at MSCI, outlined during a session titled “Investment Positioning in a Changing World: Navigating AI, Geopolitics, and the New Investment Paradigm” the impact of artificial intelligence and geopolitical shifts on investment opportunities, portfolio construction, and strategic asset allocation.
Cypert Kruger, Head of Institutional Investment Research at MSCI, discussed the evolution of public market structures, factor investment analytics, and innovation in index design, as well as the search for additional sources of returns in a shifting investment environment.
Oday Karey, Vice President of Research and Development at MSCI, emphasized the importance of enhancing transparency and data quality in investment evaluation and performance measurement, enabling more consistent analytical comparisons of exposures across public and private markets.
Bentley Kaplan, Vice President of Research and Development at MSCI, examined the relationship between sustainability and climate data and financial performance in Gulf markets, as well as the role of new data in broadening the scope of structural exposure and investment risk analysis.
MSCI, a leading global provider of financial market indices and investment analytics, had reclassified Kuwait from a frontier market to an emerging market in 2019, with the decision taking effect in November 2020. In that same month, seven Kuwaiti companies were included in an emerging markets index, with trading value exceeding 961.6 million Kuwaiti dinars (approximately $2.9 billion USD), marking one of the highest daily trading levels recorded by the market.
Since then, knowledge exchange between the Kuwait Stock Exchange and MSCI has expanded to include specialized events addressing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on markets, governance standards, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, the global investment landscape, and its implications for regional markets, culminating in the Institutional Investor Forum.
The forum provided listed companies with a deeper understanding of issues that are priorities for institutional investors, particularly data quality, transparency, sustainability, and risk management. These areas align with the Kuwait Stock Exchange’s efforts to enhance investor relations practices, disclosure, sustainability, and engagement with a broader base of local and international investors.
