First lady Jill Biden reveals she taught class via Zoom the day before inauguration

She may now be the first lady of the United States, but Jill Biden is, first and foremost, a teacher.

And the American educator with a doctorate in education was keen to reconnect with her roots in her first official engagement as first lady, taking part in a virtual event with fellow teachers to thank them for their work during the ongoing pandemic.

Ms Biden, 69, participated in a Zoom call with the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers on Thursday evening during her first full day as first lady.

"I couldn’t wait one more day to have this meeting, to say thank you on behalf of a grateful nation, to educators for their heroic commitment to students during this pandemic," she posted on Twitter after the event.

"You’ve been so strong; and we will be strong in our support for you."

The first lady was joined at the White House by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, for the call.

"Thank you for all that you do in the day-to-day. It's not always recognised how much your work matters, but it does ... student by student, you are changing the world," Ms Biden told attendees.

During the event, the first lady confirmed that she will still educate while in her new role, telling attendees she will continue to teach writing at Northern Virginia Community College.

"I am teaching hybrid this semester myself. And I have to tell you, you know, I -- the one thing I love about educators is that we all, I think, help one another," she said.

She also revealed she had held an online class for the community college on Tuesday, hours before flying to Washington for her husband's presidential inauguration on Wednesday.

During the 20-minute Zoom call, the first lady also assured fellow teachers that the Biden administration would help schools during the pandemic by reducing class sizes, providing funding and making sure Covid-19 tests were available.

"This is our moment, because we know how to turn chaos into something beautiful. We do it every day in our classrooms," she said.

"We know how to be a light in the darkness and Joe is going to be a champion for you. Because he knows that's the best way to serve our students. Together we are going to transform our nation's education system. And when we do that, we will change the course of our future forever.

"And if you ever wonder if it's possible. Just remember that the first lady of the United States is one of your own," she concluded.

Ms Biden, who was previously second lady of the US between 2009 and 2017 during the Obama administration, holds a bachelor's degree and a doctoral degree from the University of Delaware, as well as master's degrees from West Chester University and Villanova University.

In a rare move, she will continue to balance an outside paying job alongside her duties as first lady.

In contrast, Melania Trump held her first event as Flotus on March 29, 2017, more than two months after Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20 that year.

Scroll through the gallery below to see more photos of Jill Biden through the years:

What drives subscription retailing?

Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.

The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.

The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.

The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.

UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.

That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.

Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.

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.”

First lady Jill Biden reveals she taught class via Zoom the day before inauguration

The new Flotus spoke to fellow teachers in her first solo event since Joe Biden was sworn in as US president

What drives subscription retailing?