Shatha Al-Aswad
Email: SAlaswad@statestreet.com
Shatha Al-Aswad, an Affiliate of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Initiative at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University, was formerly an Assistant Vice President for Bank & Sovereign Credit at State Street Corporation. Her experience is focused on credit risk management on the business and enterprise risk management levels for emerging markets’ financial institutions mainly in the Middle East and North Africa regions. Shatha is a member of the Board of Directors of Women in Sovereign Entities, a global nonprofit professional association for women executives in sovereign financial entities.
Papers Published in World Economics:
Persian Gulf-based SWFs and Financial Hubs in Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar
Competitive branding between Bahrain, Qatar and UAE has occurred on different levels of investment through the medium of the Gulf State Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). This has happened across a number of sectors: oil and gas, finance, real estate, automotive and entertainment, but Vision 2030 for the three states gives a sense of duplicating strategies. As they aim to diversify their economies and create jobs, they have also duplicated efforts, perhaps leading to a misallocation of resources. Does the Gulf really need three or four financial hubs? If it does, then theoretically – ceteris paribus – for all of them to function and thrive, there should be a high level of specialisation to avoid cannibalisation. In order to accumulate assets for future generations of their citizens the Gulf State SWFs need to coordinate efforts.
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