Bond investments gain acceptance among Gulf State insurers
The Middle East's insurance sector has gradually welcomed the introduction of debt instruments as high-grade investments become more widely available, according to an article in Gulf News by Adil Abid, a partner of financial services practice at KPMG Lower Gulf. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have all issued sovereign bonds recently, following the declining oil price. In the past nine months, Saudi Arabia alone has raised $26bn through the international sale of both conventional bonds and sukuk. 
Debt instruments have slowly been gaining acceptance in the Middle East insurance sector which has traditionally been underweight in debt since a significant portion of the investment portfolio consists of high-risk high-growth assets such as real estate and equities.