The role of institutional investors in the Middle East was highlighted at a seminar held by the Abu Dhabi Centre for Corporate Governance, in collaboration with Govern a research and advisory entity in Abu Dhabi.
Alissa Amico, Managing Director of Govern, presented the findings of Govern’s project on institutional investors in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA, region.
She said the role of Middle Eastern institutional investors as key actors to promote governance in listed and unlisted companies, has not been sufficiently explored, and added that investors in the region have been more passive than their global peers.
In her presentation, Amico spoke about the impact of the opening of the GCC markets to institutional investment and corporate governance. She also discussed measures that regulators and exchanges need to adopt to encourage institutional investors to become more active in promoting good governance, investor priorities for improving the performance of companies, and how governance tools can become more useful.
Mohamed Helal Al Muhairi, Director-General, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the event was the first of its kind to discuss and analyse results of Govern’s project on institutional investors in the MENA region. He said those participating examined their impact on the governance of listed companies, based on original analysis of the largest listed companies in the region.

Source: WAM