The prospect of new cities (and accompanying flow of capital) in the Gulf

Recent revelations about Saudi Arabia's hand in the Jamal Khashoggi affair has marred what is an otherwise engrossing growth story, not just for the largest of the Gulf states, but for other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Halfway through this year, the Saudi market was one of the best-performing indices in the world - returning 17.7% by July. There were $3.1bn of international inflows in anticipation of the MSCI inclusion - Saudi will be included in the MSCI Emerging Markets index from June 2019. Kuwait will also be included and this upgraded status should attract over $800m of investment inflows.  However, political risk is now very much to the fore, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The recent sell-off has exposed some value but with all the turbulence and volatility, there is little visibility on how...