Wealth across the Middle East is expanding rapidly. Yet according to Kunal Varma, Chairman and CEO of InvestGate Private Wealth, advisory capability has not evolved at the same pace.

“Wealth is growing at a much, much faster clip,” Varma says. “But the advice penetration and the understanding of what advice needs to be provided were not growing at that clip.”

Speaking on CEO: Behind the Scenes, Varma reflects on nearly 25 years in financial services across India, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the United Kingdom. He has observed there is no shortage of investment products, but there is a widening gap between strategy and execution.

“You can have all the strategy in the world. It looks great on paper,” he says. “But the slip between the cup and the lip is between creating the strategy and executing the strategy.”

For Varma, execution begins with trust. In a market where institutions offer similar structures and asset classes, commoditization has become the norm.

“Products and solutions are extremely commoditized. Everyone is offering similar asset classes, similar products,” he says. “But the reality is, if you want to move away from a commodity-driven market, you need to work on the trust element.”

Trust is tested most during volatility. Varma is clear that credibility is built not by highlighting gains but by confronting challenges directly.

“Taking the bad news and going to clients is important,” he says. “If you try to sugarcoat or hide when things are not going very well, guess what? When things come back, no-one’s going to be standing for you, and that’s the reality.”

This is increasingly the case as the United Arab Emirates becomes a destination of choice for globally mobile families operating across multiple jurisdictions and institutions.

“The region is getting very easy to live in, but the complexity of how to manage the wealth around these clients is getting extremely, extremely difficult,” Varma says.

InvestGate Private Wealth was built to address that fragmentation. Rather than focusing solely on asset allocation, the firm integrates liquidity planning, debt advisory, trust structures and governance frameworks.

Varma describes the model as closer to a wealth concierge or outsourced CIO function, designed to simplify financial lives that span borders. Leadership underpins that approach.

“Leadership for me is all about listening,” he says. “And your moral compass needs to be really aligned. If it’s right for you, then it’s right for the client. You should do right when nobody is looking.”

As AI and automation reshape the advisory landscape, Varma believes the industry’s primary metric must also evolve. Historically, performance conversations centered on returns.

“Most conclusively, the view is, how much return did you make?” he says. “I think the shift is coming; very, very frankly, it’s going to become: How much risk have you mitigated?”

In Varma’s experience, clients accept market cycles. What they struggle with are unexpected outcomes.

“Clients don’t mind bad markets,” he says. “Clients mind bad timing. Clients mind bad surprises. Our ethos is going to be: Plan and stick to the plan, because sticking to the plan gives you a lot more leverage in the future.”

Varma believes the next phase of wealth management will reward firms that simplify complexity, mitigate risk and execute consistently. Strategy may attract attention, but disciplined execution sustains trust.

Tune into the full episode of CEO: Behind the Scenes with Kunal Varma to hear how principled leadership and operational rigor are reshaping advisory standards across a rapidly evolving region.

Listen to the latest episode of our CEO: Behind the Scenes podcast with Kunal Varma on Amazon, Apple or Spotify.