Abu Dhabi Festival 2017: Spanish pianist Juan Pérez Floristán to revive the classics at NYUAD

The Festival Recital Series opens on Saturday with Spanish pianist Juan Pérez Floristán performing a solo recital of Liszt, Chopin and Mussorgsky in the Black Box at New York University Abu Dhabi.

A winner of the Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition in 2015, the young virtuoso will make his solo recording debut on the Naxos label later this year. “I am really looking forward to getting to know such a different culture and maybe discovering the things that we may have in common,” he says of his Abu Dhabi debut. “I am sure people in Spain can be quite like people over there. I hope you can see a glimpse of what my country can offer and how vital our culture is, and how open to the world we are.”

Please tell us briefly about the repertoire you will be performing in Abu Dhabi.

My recital's programme includes three of the main Romantic composers of the 19th century: Liszt, Chopin and Mussorgsky. Chopin's Piano Sonata No 2 is well known for its slow movement, the funeral march, so I decided to play right before it a short piece by Liszt, which is also a funeral march, inspired by the grave of the Medici family in Italy. You'll be able to see how shockingly similar these two pieces are. And, after this, you will listen to one of the most monumental pieces in piano repertoire: Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, a showcase of imagination and fantasy rarely achieved.

You studied for 10 years under your mother, María Floristán. How was the dynamics?

It was really intense, but in a good way. We are an exception – all of my friends who tried to study with their parents failed sooner or later because of the constant fights. But we always got along really well – inside and outside of the classroom.

What pieces will you be tackling as part your upcoming new album?

I recently recorded for Naxos a solo piano album, which will be out for sale in December, including Liszt's Sonata in B Minor and Schumann's Fantasie [in C]. I will also record a couple of chamber music recordings, with some of Schubert and Shostakovich's Piano Trios, Brahm's Clarinet Trio and Clarinet Sonatas this year.

• Free tickets for Juan Pérez Floristán’s performance at New York University Abu Dhabi on Saturday, at 8pm, are currently fully booked. Sign up for updates at www.nyuad-artscenter.org

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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