US construction company Bechtel to train Emirati engineers

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipal Affairs (DMA) has arranged a deal with the US construction company Bechtel to provide in-depth training for up to 100 Emirati engineers.

The engineers will spend at least 12 months on deployment on some of Bechtel’s major projects, with a view to help improving skills and knowledge of working on major projects.

David Welch, the president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Bechtel, said that it had developed a dialogue with people at the DMA, whose senior officers had identified “a strong need in Abu Dhabi for the training and development of middle management”.

He added that although engineers were well-educated and in service, many had not had the practical experience their positions would benefit from.

The new programme has begun with a pair of initial placements. One engineer is working on the new Taweelah alumina refinery being built by Bechtel for Emirates Global Aluminium. Another is at Bechtel’s Global Centre of Engineering Excellence in Dubai, which designs ports and rail projects around the world.

Mr Welch said other engineers would be placed directly on Bechtel projects all over the world. Where they would be placed will depend on “their area of interest, their qualifications and their discipline”.

“These people will be going to work as Bechtel people. They’ll put on a hard hat, workboots and do the same sort of work as any Bechtel person,” he said.

Bechtel specialises in large-scale engineering and construction projects. Alongside the new alumina refinery, it is building the Borouge 3 petrochemical plant in Abu Dhabi, leading a consortium delivering a US$10bn contract package for the Riyadh Metro and a long-standing programme for the development of Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia.

Khalifa Mohammed Al Mazroui, the undersecretary of the department of Municipal Affairs, said: “Working with a reputed and specialised company such as Bechtel adds considerable value to our training initiatives.”

mfahy@thenational.ae

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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.”