As the Beijing Winter Games 2022 prepares to officially open, influential figures from around the world are arriving in China to cheer on their Olympians.
The games, which kick off on Friday and run until February 20, will see around 2,600 athletes compete in 109 events across 15 disciplines in seven sports.
The opening ceremony will take place on Friday evening at Beijing's national stadium known as The Bird's Nest, and will have around 3,000 people performing, many of who will be made up of Chinese youth.
Ahead of the ceremony, Princess Reema bint Bandar, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, has flown in to Beijing to support the kingdom's first Winter Olympics athlete.
Posting a photo on Instagram of herself arriving in the country, against the backdrop of the official Olympics logo, she wrote: “Thrilled to be in Beijing to support our first ever #Saudi Winter Olympics team!”
She later posted a photo of the Olympic rings alongside a message to the kingdom’s athletes. “Wishing our #Saudi team the best of luck during the Winter Olympic games,” she wrote.
“So proud to be here and witness this milestone, made possible by the hard work of Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Ministry of Sports to develop the sports sector, guided by Vision 2030 and a determination to reach our full potential.”
Alpine skier Fayik Abdi will make history as he becomes the first athlete to represent Saudi Arabia at the Winter Olympics.
Princess Reema is not the only member of royalty set to attend the games. King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand and Prince Albert II of Monaco will all be in attendance.
However, a number of European royal families will not be sending representatives to the games, with many citing Covid-19 as the reason.
Great Britain’s Princess Anne had been due to attend, however the British royal family announced last week that the princess royal, who is head of the country’s Olympics Association, would no longer be going to China.
“The princess royal is disappointed she will not be able to attend the IOC meetings in Beijing ahead of the Winter Olympics this year, nor the Games themselves,” said the palace.
“This is due to the flight and Covid travel restriction difficulties in getting to and from the Games without losing too much of her busy work schedule at home.
“Her royal highness sends her best wishes for the Games to the British athletes and supporting officials.”
The Norwegian royal family also said they would not be in attendance at this year’s games. “This year, the royal family will follow the Winter Olympics and cheer on the Norwegian athletes in front of the TV screen,” they said. “The royal family, like large parts of Norway, will follow the games with great joy. The royal family wishes the Norwegian athletes and support staff good luck in Beijing.”
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.”
