WEF meeting: Sheikha Bodour to chair World Economic Forum’s regional business council

DEAD SEA // The World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi as the chair of its regional business council for the Middle East and North Africa.

Sheikha Bodour, who chairs Sharjah’s Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), is the first woman to be appointed as chair of the council, which is made up of business leaders from about 40 leading companies from around the region.

It seeks to promote cooperation between public and private sectors to address the region’s most significant challenges.

Sheikha Bodour’s appointment was announced by professor Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of WEF at its Middle East and North Africa summit, which is taking place at the Dead Sea in Jordan.

Under her leadership, the council will develop a framework for tackling economic integration and diversification, skills development, entrepreneurship and promoting greater female participation in the labour force. Sheikha Bodour took part in a number of panel sessions at the WEF event in Jordan, including one on Stewarding a Policy Framework for Generational Transformation and an event titled Arab World from History to Fiction.

She highlighted the need to improve communication between the council and the Regional Strategy Group, of which she is also a member, and said greater discussion was needed on job creation, training, health care and social development.

Sheikha Bodour said: “The Middle East is on the threshold of a new phase of growth. While a world of opportunities lies ahead, it is more important than ever for us to tread carefully and to place a strong focus on building integrated, inclusive and sustainable economies that are beneficial to all parties.”

Representatives from more than 50 countries took part in the WEF event, including business, government and civil society leaders. The opening address was delivered by Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, Jordan’s 22-year-old crown prince, with speeches from King Felipe of Spain and the presidents of Iraq and Niger.

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.”

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