UN names Palestinian media programme after reporter Shireen Abu Akleh

The UN is naming its training programme for Palestinian broadcasters and journalists after Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead on May 11 during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called Abu Akleh "a trailblazer for Arab women and a role model for journalists in the Middle East and around the world”.

The Palestinian-American reporter “had a distinguished career in journalism for a quarter of a century”, said Mr Dujarric.

Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour had appealed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to rename the training programme after Abu Akleh in a letter on May 11 “as a staunch supporter of the freedom of the press, and fundamental freedoms worldwide, to honor this brave and iconic woman journalist”.

Mr Guterres said he was “appalled” by Abu Akleh’s death and has called for “an independent and transparent investigation into the incident to ensure that those responsible are held accountable”, AP reported.

He said the UN Department of Global Communications, which conducts the training programme, “welcomes the proposal to honour the bravery and legacy of Ms Abu Akleh" by calling it The Shireen Abu Akleh Training Programme for Palestinian Broadcasters and Journalists.

The programme was set up in 1995, following the adoption of a General Assembly resolution requesting the UN public information department provide assistance to the Palestinian people in the field of media development. Since then, about 200 Palestinian journalists have participated.

Qatar's Al Jazeera and the Palestinian Authority have accused Israeli soldiers of deliberately killing Abu Akleh.

Israel rejects those allegations as a “blatant lie”. It says she was shot during a firefight between soldiers and Palestinian militants and that only ballistic analysis of the bullet — which is held by the Palestinians — can determine who fired the fatal shot.

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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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Day 1 results:

Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)

Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)