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Abu Dhabi, 6th June 2023 – The role of alternative investments, fixed income and artificial intelligence, as well as having a proper infrastructure in investments, were some of the topics highlighted during the 15th annual seminar for civil retirement and social insurance in the GCC, which concluded today.


The General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) hosted senior investment and pension speakers during the two-day seminar in order to highlight some of the most effective investment tools for pension and social security.


Speaking about the role of alternative investments, Bader Al Kandari, Chief Investment Officer, Liquid Sector at the Public Institution for Social Security in Kuwait, explained that an increase in alternative investments is expected to result in self-sufficiency to liquidity investments on the long-term, offering diverse opportunities for improved revenue and infrastructure. 


“In order to ensure promising revenue in alternative investments, it is important to select a diversified portfolio that is evaluated every three to six months by a qualified team of investment experts, who are assigned to measure revenue growth, assets, diversification and liquidity, in order to take tactful and informed decisions based on the overall economic cycle,” said Al Kandari. 


Babar Khan, Chief Investment Officer at GPSSA’s Investment Sector, stressed on the fact that in the past 15 years private equity has delivered higher returns at a much lower volatility in comparison to public markets. “Investors can expect much better growth expansion when they take ownership of a private domain where you get real time information on how the asset is performing, and take informed decisions to hold investments for the longest time possible in order experience higher returns and lower volatility, however clearly understanding how to manage the asset class requires a certain type of skills set in order to benefit from its allocation,” he advised.


Avi Turetsky, a UAE-based consultant from Ares Management spoke about how we can never predict the future, but can learn from the past market cycles which can support our investment decisions. “The private market performance cycle and infrastructure has had a particularly good year, private assets are holding their value in comparison to public markets, which is why pensioners invest in private markets since they noticed its higher returns and lower market volatility in comparison to public market trades.”


Ahmed Al Moussawi, Acting Head of the Cash Management Department, Civil Service Employees Pension Fund in Oman discussed artificial intelligence in promoting operations in investment funds, resulting in accuracy in information gathering with the help of multi-sources, while saving time and money. He explained however that a qualified team must supervise the application of artificial intelligence in all funds since artificial intelligence may result in risks if not applied gradually on simple investments. “It is very important to know the value of investments when using artificial intelligence and to limit its usage since we do not guarantee it is suitable for all types of investments; it can result in risk, especially with pension funds,” adding that artificial intelligence requires a high level of security and a cyber hacking team of experts to detect obstacles involved in its usage.


Angad Rajpal, a UAE-based Consultant in Emirates NBD, spoke about the varied pension systems in the GCC region, each with different and unique investment guidelines and pension fund schemes, however what is common amongst those authorities is that they have a strong undertaking from their country’s budget which results in low liquidity and focus on forced investments. When asked about his thoughts regarding the correlation between private and public markets, he explained that private markets bring interesting perspectives within their portfolio, while public markets provide a core role within its portfolio. “The asset owners can comfortably manage the drawdown on the public market side with its oral allocation framework, both private and public markets complement each other quiet well, even though the return profiles are very different.”


His Excellency Faras Al Ramahi, GPSSA’s Director General congratulated and awarded the senior speakers and attendees for their participation and invaluable information at the end of the seminar.