
Aside from RBC, Falcon Private Bank is said to be in the market to provide corporate savings plans in the Middle East, as is insurance firm Zurich. However, one major provider, Friends Provident, has withdrawn from offering corporate savings schemes based on end-of-service benefits. Tim Hughes, of Friends Provident International, Dubai, says the move is part of a global policy to refocus from corporate schemes to individual policies. Sources in the UAE say the company’s decision does not indicate a weakness in the market of end-of-service benefits, but is more likely to be a business decision driven by challenging circumstances. Friends Provident gained its federal insurance licence in the UAE in 2007 and began to expand while the financial crisis was at its most severe.
It is hard to predict when the DED will reach a decision on an expat pension scheme. Past experience suggests it would be unwise merely to sit and wait, though. Medical insurance companies that did that in the mid-90s would have lost out to their more dynamic rivals. There is evidence that the provision of end-of-service benefits is evolving. As this market develops, financial services firms would be advised to get involved. ©2012 funds global mena