Why investing doesn’t have to be complicated

The digital wealth platform is designed to simplify investing through low entry amounts, flexible access and a clearer customer experiencePublished: Wed 15 Jul 2026, 12:31 PM By: Emmanuel Deschamps | Partner ContentWhen people ask me what inspired Purple Investment, Sukoon’s dedicated digital wealth platform, they often expect me to talk about technology, investment strategies or financial innovation, while in truth, we have had one ambition: to tear down as many barriers as possible which separated people and investing. Not because the world needed another investment product but because I have met far too many people who wanted to invest and simply never took the first step because the experience felt intimidating with too much jargon, paperwork and questions that seemed to require an expert to answer. I have always believed investing should feel different. After all, most people are not trying to beat the market every morning. They are simply trying to build a better future for themselves and their families. That goal should not require navigating unnecessary complexity; it should bring peace of mind, which is exactly what Sukoon stands for.Simplicity is much harder than complexityOne lesson I have learned throughout my career is that simplicity is incredibly difficult to build. Complication is easy; removing it requires challenging years of entrenched habits, and it means asking difficult questions about whether every step truly creates value for the customer. Frequently, the answer is an unfortunate no. That philosophy became the starting point for Purple Investment. We did not begin by asking ourselves how to build another investment product. Instead, we asked a much simpler question: what if someone making their very first investment and someone who has been investing for years could both use the same platform and feel equally comfortable?Highest standards of investing should be accessible to everyoneAccessibility is often misunderstood. Making investing accessible does not have to mean lowering standards, but it does imply the removal of unnecessary barriers – which is exactly what we tried to do. We wanted someone to be able to begin investing with Dh 100 if that was the amount they felt comfortable committing. We wanted people to invest regularly or occasionally, depending on their own circumstances – not according to rules imposed by the product. We wanted customers to be able to access their money by removing lock-in periods and hidden exit charges. We wanted onboarding to be fast through a digital experience. Crucially, we wanted every customer to understand what they were doing. Not because they had become investment experts overnight, but because the experience itself had become clearer. Our ambition was never to build something only for first-time investors as experienced investors also appreciate efficiency, transparency and access to high-quality investment solutions without unnecessary friction. Behind every simple experience should sit professional investment expertise, strong governance and internationally recognised standards. Customers should never be forced to choose simplicity over quality or vice versa.We are providing access, not a productOne sentence has guided many of our decisions throughout this journey. We don’t view Purple as an investment product, but as an ongoing service. To me, those are two very different philosophies. A product is something you launch and something a client decides to buy. A service is something you improve every single day and something a client decides to try. That changes the relationship you have with your customers. Instead of asking how we sell more, you begin asking how we make this experience better, how we remove another unnecessary step, how we make every interaction faster, simpler and more intuitive. It seems to be a never-ending stream of questions, and yet it is that process of interrogation that pushes us towards true progress.Trust is built on transparencyThe UAE has become one of the world’s most dynamic economies. People come here from every corner of the world to build businesses, careers and new lives. Yet many still do not invest because investing appears unfamiliar or overly complicated. I believe our industry sometimes underestimates one simple reality. People invest because they trust the institution standing behind the experience, and because of the transparency provided to them. Customers should never feel that complexity exists simply because the industry has always operated that way. If we want more people to invest confidently, then earning their trust through absolute transparency must come before selling them anything.Innovation also means listeningThere is another principle that has become increasingly important to me over the past few years. No digital service is ever finished. Purple certainly isn’t. Every conversation with a customer teaches us something. Every suggestion helps us simplify another screen, clarify another explanation or improve another part of the customer journey. Some of our best ideas have not come from meeting rooms. They have come from customers asking simple questions that forced us to rethink our assumptions.Looking beyond today’s clientsWhat excites me deeply about this journey has very little to do with Purple itself. It is the opportunity to contribute to a stronger investment culture in the UAE or abroad. I would love to see financial literacy become a much bigger part of everyday education – imagine students learning the principles of long-term investing through practical exercises using Dh 5 or Dh 10 in a safe, supervised educational environment. Not to encourage speculation, but with the purpose of teaching patience, diversification and implementing the value of thinking long term. Those lessons stay with people for life, and if platforms like ours can one day support initiatives that help young or inexperienced people become financially confident, I believe that it will be one of the most meaningful contributions our industry can make.The writer is executive vice president head of individual life and workplace saving, Sukoon Insurance.