Riyadh may be a parched, inhospitable place for dapper fund managers, but many may start to make more regular pilgrimages to the capital of Saudi Arabia in the coming years – and not just to raise fresh funds, the traditional cause for a visit in the oil-rich state.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock market, the largest and most liquid in the Arab world, may this year finally allow foreign institutional investors to invest directly into its blue-chip listed companies, rather than the swaps the Capital Markets Authority introduced in 2008. Continue reading »