Saudi Crown Prince meets Rishi Sunak during G20 summit

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday met with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali.

During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral ties and discussed regional and international developments, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The leaders committed to looking for opportunities to deepen investment ties in strategic industries and Mr Sunak said he hopes to continue working with Saudi Arabia to stabilise energy markets.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Minister of State, Cabinet Member and National Security Adviser Musaed Al Aiban, Minister of Commerce and Acting Minister of Information Majid Al Qasabi.

A Downing Street representative said the leaders discussed the importance of continued UK-Saudi cooperation in the face of regional security threats and international economic instability.

Mr Sunak said he hoped the UK and Saudi Arabia could continue to work together to stabilise energy markets.

The leaders also shared their concern over threats to peace and security in the Middle East, including Iran’s destabilising activity in the region.

Mr Sunak said he looked forward to “continuing to strengthen the UK-Saudi relationship, noting the importance of further progress on social reforms, including on women’s rights and freedoms in the kingdom”.

The Saudi Crown Prince, attending his first G20 summit, also met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Saudi Arabia hosted the G20 in Riyadh in December 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The trip forms part of a tour to a number of Asian countries to “strengthen relations between the kingdom and friendly countries”, the royal court said on Monday.

Barings Bank

Barings, one of Britain’s oldest investment banks, was
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Barings Bank collapsed in February 1995 following colossal
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Leeson gambled more than $1 billion in speculative trades,
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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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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

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