AgTech company Pure Salmon to set up global headquarters in Abu Dhabi

Pure Salmon, a land-based Atlantic salmon aquaculture company, will set up its global headquarters in Abu Dhabi in partnership with Abu Dhabi Investment Office.

The partnership is part of Adio’s Dh2 billion innovation programme and Pure Salmon will receive financial and non-financial incentives from the emirate’s investment entity, Adio said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The introduction of Pure Salmon’s pioneering technology and knowledge to Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem will enhance the emirate’s aquaculture capabilities and create a hub from which new agriculture solutions can proliferate,” said Tariq bin Hendi, director general of Adio.

He added that Adio is committed to "supporting businesses aligned with our mission of advancing regional and global innovation".

Abu Dhabi is aiming to attract innovation-driven companies to strengthen its agriculture technology ecosystem as food security challenges emerge globally during the coronavirus pandemic.

India-based start-up FreshToHome also received financial and non-financial incentives from Adio in December last year.

Pure Salmon is a portfolio company of private equity funds managed by Singapore-based 8F Asset Management.

It uses Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) technology to sustainably farm fresh, traceable and healthy Atlantic salmon in proximity to end consumers, which reduces lengthy transport requirements and the company's carbon footprint, while lowering natural resource consumption.

The partnership with Adio is expected to help Pure Salmon hire new staff and expand its operations as it aims for 260,000 tonnes of salmon production per year, according to Adio.

The company’s Abu Dhabi headquarters will manage global production centres in Poland, Japan, the US and France, it said.

Adio, the government entity responsible for attracting and facilitating investment in Abu Dhabi, provides support to innovation-led ventures in sectors including information and communications technology, health services, biopharma and tourism.

Its innovation programme is part of the Dh50bn Ghadan 21 Initiative, a three-year plan to boost the emirate's non-oil economy.

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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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