Page 17 - UP GENERAL REPORT - AUGUST 2025_Neat

8/19/25, 10:52 AM Can UAE’s value stocks hold their own against meme-frenzy investing?

Because they did see mania-fueled rallies before - these constant ‘defeats’ that rutted their path. And in sticking to their path, they did change the map of the
investment world, only to see it being redrawn again and again, back to the gimmicky ways of tech-obsessed mania.

Chasing the ‘next big thing’

Why would anyone bother with emerging markets that are mostly boring and light years behind when one could look to the future and grab at the prospect of the
next ‘new new thing’?

After all, who would want to boast of the moat that they had built around the likes of Salik, Parkin, Amlak, Union Properties and the like when the story was so
much better talking about the latest ‘meme-coin’, or the outsized returns of Nvidia and the revolution of AI that is set to usher in a new era?

By any accounting measure, valuations are higher than they were at the peak of 2000 and 2007. But why would that be a worry when the fundamental measures that
gauge value are outdated to begin with?

We have had this discourse before, and every time we have had the falling to earth, the survivors have come back to roar anew, which is why a combination of index
investing and select stock picking has become the order of the day.
What we can say is that this is another extraordinary time when there is so much money floating around, despite the litany of bad news. And why stocks, bonds, real
estate and other assets have all risen.
The only fear that seems to be acting out is that of missing out. Even real estate in the UAE has more buzz than the new IPO or any portfolio of domestic stocks that
talk about record earnings, with very little follow through by way of stock price action.

Yet we know that these periods do not last. The swing to emerging markets and the UAE and the Middle East in particular is more likely a structural move. As the
pace of activity grows in this part of the world, there is likely to be greater investor participation.

https://gulfnews.com/business/analysis/can-uaes-value-stocks-hold-their-own-against-meme-frenzy-investing-1.500237571 2/3