Saxo Bank registers 200% growth in new UAE female investors

Women now account for about 12% of trading and investment platform's active clients in the country in 2021

The UAE has the highest level of women participating in the workforce – 57.5 per cent in 2020 – of any country in the Mena region, the World Bank said.

Trading and investment platform Saxo Bank said it registered a 200 per cent annual growth in the number of new female investors in the UAE amid signs that women are emerging as a crucial part of the investing world.

Women now account for about 12 per cent of Saxo Bank’s active clients in the market in 2021, the Danish investment bank said on Saturday, in a statement to commemorate Emirati Women's Day.

“The increased year-on-year growth of female investors is testament to the UAE’s continued encouragement and support of women," said Tara Tyan, regional head of marketing.

"We are thrilled to see a continuous growth in female investors; we hope to further emphasise the message that trading is not just for men.”

Female investors are increasingly gaining prominence as they amass large amounts of wealth.

The wealth of women in the Middle East is set to grow at a compound annual rate of 9 per cent in the period up to 2023 while females account for 24 per cent of $3.2 trillion of total assets under management in the Middle East, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group.

A separate study by Barclays Private Bank last year revealed that up to 82 per cent of women from wealthy families are expected to inherit large sums of wealth over the next two decades, making them significant beneficiaries of an estimated $5tn that will be transferred to the next generation by 2030.

Women have also benefitted from Gulf countries' efforts to increase female participation in the workforce. The UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority issued a directive earlier this year that listed companies in the country need to have at least one female director on their boards.

The UAE has the highest female workforce participation rate – 57.5 per cent in 2020 – in the Mena region, the World Bank said in a blog post this year.

The Washington-based lender said recent reforms made by the Emirates have caused the country's score in its annual Women, Business and the Law study to increase to 82.5 out of 100 points in 2021, up from 30 in 2019.

“The rise in UAE-based female investors reflects the strong efforts of the UAE government to empower the country’s women,” Ms Tyan said.