Sheikh Hamdan celebrates second birthday of twins Rashid and Shaikha

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, took to social media to celebrate the second birthday of his twins.

Sheikh Rashid and Sheikha Shaikha turned two on Saturday, and the children each had a four-tier birthday cake as part of the celebrations.

The Crown Prince shared a video on his Instagram showing the custom-made cakes.

Sheikh Rashid's Winnie-the-Pooh themed birthday cake. Photo: Instagram / faz3

Sheikh Rashid’s Winnie the Pooh-themed cake features Piglet, the fictional teddy bear’s closest friend, and long-eared Eeyore the donkey. The fondant characters are sat at the bottom of a tree, on a cake base filled with sugar-crafted flowers under Rashid's name.

Sheikha Shaikha’s flower-filled birthday cake iss a whimsical four-tiered piece dotted with fondant deer, baby pink roses and sprigs of purple lavender. It also has a large pink heart containing Shaikha's name.

Two-year-old Sheikha Shaikha's flower-filled birthday cake. Photo: Instagram / faz3

Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikha Shaikha bint Saeed, who married in May 2019, had the twins on May 20, 2021.

On Saturday, the Crown Prince shared a heartwarming birthday video for the twins to his 15.7 million Instagram followers.

Filled with family moments and special effects, the video opens with an image of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai and the twins’ grandfather, holding the twins when they were babies.

It also shows the children enjoying days out with Sheikh Hamdan, including images of the trio flying kites, sledging and meeting giraffes.

The video ends with a happy birthday message.

Dubai’s Crown Prince also posted a picture of his son on Instagram on his birthday.

In the picture, the two-year-old's face is hidden from view behind a sippy cup and he is wearing a blue and white striped Paw-Patrol t-shirt. The Crown Prince captioned the image “have a wonderful day".

It’s not the first time Sheikh Hamdan has shared glimpses of his children’s life on social media. Over the last two years, he has posted moments from family holidays, National Day celebrations and moments from birthday parties.

The Crown Prince also took to Instagram to mark the announcement of the birth of his twins in 2020, sharing an image of himself holding his two newborns.

In March this year, he shared the first photo of himself with his third child, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamdan.

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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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Three trading apps to try

Sharad Nair recommends three investment apps for UAE residents:

For beginners or people who want to start investing with limited capital, Mr Nair suggests eToro. “The low fees and low minimum balance requirements make the platform more accessible,” he says. “The user interface is straightforward to understand and operate, while its social element may help ease beginners into the idea of investing money by looking to a virtual community.”
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Finally, StashAway could work for those who want a hands-off approach to their investing. “It removes one of the biggest challenges for novice traders: picking the securities in their portfolio,” Mr Nair says. “A goal-based approach or view towards investing can help motivate residents who may usually shy away from investment platforms.”

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