Adia Lab, the research institute launched by sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, will be hosting its inaugural conference on climate change and health sciences in November, a few weeks before the Cop28 summit begins in the UAE.
The Adia Lab Symposium will be held on November 7 and 8 at the Abu Dhabi Global Market. It will address “two of the world’s most pressing issues of today” through keynotes, presentations and discussion panels, along with case studies on research projects funded by Adia Lab that use data and analytics, it said in a statement on Friday.
The Cop28 climate change conference is scheduled to be held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, and is expected to be the most inclusive Cop conference yet. Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, is the Cop28 President-designate.
Heading the list of attendees at the Adia Lab Symposium are Steven Chu, the former US Secretary of Energy and winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, and Sandy Pentland, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, who will deliver keynote speeches.
Other notable participants include Miguel Hernan from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Shafi Goldwasser, director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at UC Berkeley.
“Adia Lab was formed to tackle societally-important topics, and our inaugural symposium is aligned with that ambition,” Horst Simon, director of Adia Lab, said.
“We are drawing together some of the world’s leading data and computational scientists to discuss how these disciplines can help find solutions to climate change’s biggest challenges.
“Health sciences is another critical focus research area at Adia Lab, given its strong connections to data science, trustworthy artificial intelligence and other technologies.”
Abu Dhabi's initiatives in an era of global digital transformation are helping the emirate position itself at the forefront of integrating advanced technologies into its economy and society.
The UAE capital has taken a leadership role in climate change, having rolled out several programmes to support global initiatives and promote awareness around the pressing topic that will shape the future of the world.
Adia Lab plans to hold its symposium annually, and will be part of its commitment to playing an active role in the international data and computational science community, contributing to the development of Abu Dhabi’s digital ecosystem and raising opportunities for collaboration with UAE-based and international organisations.
“We have assembled a world-class advisory board and group of senior fellows at Adia Lab, and we are excited to share their insights with the research community here in the UAE and internationally,” Mr Simon said.
Adia Lab, which was announced last October, is an independent entity that focuses on climate change, energy transition, blockchain, financial inclusion, investing, automation, cyber-security, health sciences, education, telecoms and space.
On a broader scale, it is expected to play a proactive role in the development of Abu Dhabi’s digital ecosystem, in which the government has invested heavily.
The lab will also encourage multidisciplinary collaboration and aims to provide solutions for large-scale and complex problems through a “team science approach”, Mr Simon had previously said.
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At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
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.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
