The world is still coming to terms with the news that Britain has historically voted to leave the EU after 43 years of membership. There is outrage, there is rejoice; but through all the emotion we need to look at the hard facts and determine, what does this actually mean for UAE expats?

The view from our end is to keep calm, and wait and watch for the next couple of weeks’ price action to unfold. Especially for expats earning in dirhams (which is pegged to the dollar) it’s a benefit in many ways. A cheaper pound helps to repatriate higher amounts instantly. It is true that a cheapening currency will bring inflation, but the ill-effects of inflation take time to materialise whilst the currency exchange gain is immediate.

Next comes pension transfers which will be at all-time high levels due to the ultra-low interest rates warranted by Mark Carney in his post-Brexit speech. Low interest rates, when used as the discounting rate, will ensure higher transfer values. Thus it is imperative for expats with pensions back in the UK to think of moving them to an offshore vehicle now.

Another positive: with the decrease in the value of the pound and the fact that most investors in London property are foreigners from Russia and Arab states, it will be much cheaper to buy property now. Rental yields will go higher too with the expected correction in price.

On the flip side, stocks and shares will probably see some volatility in the coming months. This doesn’t mean an outright crash, rather it means wider ranges of movement around an average.

One won’t be surprised if the UK and EU equity indices end up flat or even slightly higher after the dust settles. Regular monthly savers will benefit from ‘Dollar Cost Averaging’ which describes the process of investing at lower prices every month to get a lower long term average buy price.

Last but not least, there are asset classes that will directly benefit from the financial uncertainty which is gold and high quality bonds. We only advise on highly diversified portfolios with a bit of bonds and gold in every risk profile.

In a lot of cases, the shock was absorbed throughout this event. Many fund manager partners went into cash just before the event. This again proved to be a deft move to prevent too much loss to portfolios.