National Bonds records 36% increase in investments to Dh11.89bn last year

Company created eight new millionaires and customers won Dh36.9m in prizes in 2021

Emiratis and foreign residents are increasingly aware of the benefits of saving, according to National Bonds. Antonie Robertson / The National

National Bonds, the Sharia-compliant savings and investment company owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, recorded a 36 per cent increase in investments to Dh11.89 billion in 2021 as consumers increasingly sought to create a financial safety net to protect themselves after the economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company registered a 64 per cent increase in sales and attributed it to savings programmes, as well as an increase in awareness of the benefits of saving among Emiratis and foreign residents, National Bonds said.

“National Bonds’ growth is a direct reflection of the shift in mindsets regarding the habit of saving,” said Khalifa Al Daboos, chairman of National Bonds.

“More and more people are going back to the roots of sound and lower-risk savings to ensure their financial security.”

Consumers in the UAE saved more and spent less in 2021, according to a December 2021 survey by online financial aggregator Policybazaar.ae.

About 41 per cent of UAE residents said the accumulation of wealth would save their children or dependents from unexpected financial disruption, according to the survey, in which 3,000 people were polled.

The Covid-19 pandemic also caused 28 per cent of UAE residents to prioritise their needs over wants, the Policybazaar.ae survey found.

National Bonds savers earned returns of up to 3.33 per cent on their savings in 2021. Bondholders won a total of Dh36.9 million in raffle prizes, the company said, while it had also created eight new millionaires last year.

Since it began operations in 2006, the company has made 202 millionaires and distributed prizes worth more than Dh695m, the statement said.

Meanwhile, long-term National Bonds savers who have been with the company since 2006 earned 64.11 per cent in cumulative returns on their savings, according to the statement.

The company also recorded a 62.4 per cent increase in the number of mobile savers.

“Women now make up 41 per cent of the total customer base at National Bonds,” said Mohammed Al Ali, group chief executive of National Bonds.

“With the junior saver savings increasing by 9 per cent, it is exciting to witness young people choosing to save more.”