Rayyanah Barnawi becomes first Saudi woman in space

As it happened: SpaceX launches two Saudi astronauts to space

Rayyanah Barnawi has become the first Saudi woman to go into space, after being launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early on Monday.

The research scientist blasted off as part of the privately led Axiom 2 mission to the International Space Station, alongside colleague Ali Al Qarni and Americans Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner, for an eight-day trip.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried the crew members to space at 1.37am UAE time from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The Dragon spacecraft separated from the rocket at 1.50am to begin its 16-hour journey to the orbiting outpost, with arrival expected at 6pm.

They will join the UAE’s Dr Sultan Al Neyadi, who is on the station for a six-month science mission.

“I never thought that I would ever be going to space, but at the same time it feels like a dream come true. It's an overwhelming feeling,” Ms Barnawi said in a pre-launch video released by Axiom Space, the Houston company that helped to arrange the trip for Saudi Arabia.

“It honestly feels like I am representing all Saudis' ambitions, all females and all researchers as well.

“It's a big honour to be able to go to space and at the same time do the things that you love the most.”

Saudi Arabia’s renewed interest in space

This is the maiden trip for Saudi Arabia’s new astronaut programme, which was announced last year.

Ms Barnawi and Mr Al Qarni are the second Saudi citizens in space after Prince Sultan bin Salman, who travelled in Nasa's space shuttle for a week-long trip in 1985.

When he returned, the kingdom did not set up a long-term space exploration programme.

Now, Saudi Arabia has renewed its ambitions in space, with a "sustainable" astronaut programme.

What’s the Axiom 2 mission?

The Ax-2 crew have been assigned 20 science experiments, including 14 given to Ms Barnawi and Mr Al Qarni by Saudi researchers.

One of the experiments is to test cloud-seeding techniques in a reaction chamber.

They will also perform a trial that involves studying the inflammatory response of human immune cells in microgravity.

They will investigate changes in mRNA – a genetic material that tells the body how to make proteins.

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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In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

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