Emirates NBD lost 1.4 per cent to close at Dh2.71. Jeff Topping / The National
Emirates NBD lost 1.4 per cent to close at Dh2.71. Jeff Topping / The National

DFM hitched to global slide



Dubai's stock exchange declined yesterday, tracking global markets, as investors cut positions ahead of a crucial meeting in Europe.

Leaders from the European Union were expected to discuss the region's debt crisis and Greece's potential exit.

The share price of Emirates NBD, the UAE's biggest bank by assets, lost 1.4 per cent, closing at Dh2.71 on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Emaar Properties, the developer behind the Burj Khalifa declined 2.3 per cent to Dh2.90.

The DFM General Index fell 1.1 per cent to 1,480.10 points. The index, which rallied 30 per cent at the start of this year, has erased much of its gains. It is now up 9 per cent.

Movement on Dubai's stock market has become increasingly correlated with global markets in the absence of local catalysts, said Julian Bruce, the director of institutional equity sales at EFG-Hermes in Dubai. "There are no domestic drivers. No-one is talking about the MSCI Emerging Markets inclusion, and the general consensus is that it won't happen."

The UAE is under review for an upgrade to "emerging markets" status next month.

The country is now considered a "frontier market" by MSCI, an international index compiler.

European leaders were set to meet late yesterday in Brussels to discuss the region's debt crisis, which has wiped almost US$4 trillion from equity markets worldwide this month.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index rose 0.1 per cent to 2,475.52.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's index fell 0.2 per cent to 6,366.95, Oman's declined 0.5 per cent to 5,721.27, Qatar's retreated 0.3 per cent to 8,467.42, and Bahrain's was little changed at 1,137.65.

The Saudi Tadawul declined 0.5 per cent to 7,061.43 points.

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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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