Mena’s rich optimistic despite economic adversity

Around 91 per cent of Middle East high net worth individuals, or HNWIs, agree that viewing failure positively is essential for an economy to grow, in comparison to 74 per cent globally. Compared to those in Western economies, respondents from the Mena region tend to have a more positive view of setbacks, show greater persistence and better see the benefits of overcoming adversity, according to the latest report in the Barclays Wealth Insights series. The overwhelming majority of respondents in the Middle East (91 per cent) and Asia (80 per cent) believe that viewing failure positively is essential for an economy to grow, whilst these figures drop to 71 per cent and 69 per cent in the US and Europe. In addition, respondents in Asia and Central and South America are far more positive about the opportunities presented by the recent global crisis (53 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively) compared to the US and Europe (44 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively). Based on a global survey of more than 2,000 HNWIs comprising entrepreneurs, business leaders and investors, the report, entitled “If at First You Don’t Succeed… Mapping Global Attitudes to Adversity”, provides an in-depth study into the different ways in which individuals around the world view and respond to setbacks. The report explores how different cultures value traits such as persistence and optimism, the role of luck and how entrepreneurs view setbacks as a stepping stone to future success. More respondents in the Middle East (81 per cent) than any other region believe that past failure in entrepreneurial endeavours increases the chance that a new business will succeed. This attitude to failure is further demonstrated when respondents were asked whether they would hire an individual who had experienced entrepreneurial failure; within the Mena region, Saudi Arabia (89 per cent) and Qatar (86 per cent) respondents confirmed that they would, compared to 61 per cent of UAE respondents. Elsewhere, just 42 per cent and 47 per cent of respondents in the UK and Japan respectively would hire someone with a failed enterprise on their CV. This figure drops to just 25 per cent in Monaco. The research on persistence reveals that 74 per cent of Saudi Arabia HNWIs are of the view that entrepreneurs should persist if their business is floundering, as opposed to cutting losses. Within the Mena region, 36 per cent of Qataris are most likely to cut their losses when the business is underperforming. However, an overwhelming 100 per cent believe that past failure will increase chances of future success in entrepreneurial endeavours. “Strong belief in skill rather than luck could give you a degree of over-confidence in future decisions. This mindset can be hazardous to the long-term security of a business, or to an investor, as you end up taking more risks on the assumption that your success has been wholly attributed to your own good decisions,” said Dr Greg B. Davies, head of Behavioural Finance at Barclays, warning against being too self-assured. From : Khalij