Jens Stoltenberg 'to take over Munich Security Conference'

Nato's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to take control of an annual gathering of Europe's defence elite when he leaves office.

Mr Stoltenberg, 65, will become chairman of the Munich Security Conference after its February 2025 meeting, Politico reported. A spokeswoman for the conference did not deny the report, saying any appointments would be announced in due course.

A Nato official said: “We do not comment on rumours. Mr Stoltenberg is fully focused on the completion of his tenure as Nato Secretary General.”

The former prime minister of Norway will step down as Nato chief next month after a decade-long term that was extended twice following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He will be succeeded by the former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte.

The influential Munich summit is attended by presidents, kings and generals and is regarded as the defence and security equivalent of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Its current chairman is Christoph Heusgen, a foreign policy adviser to the former German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Last February's summit was overshadowed by the war in the Middle East but ceasefire discussions on the margins failed to yield a breakthrough. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told delegates the situation in Gaza was "an appalling indictment of the deadlock in global relations".

The annual Munich Security Conference is regarded as a defence equivalent of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been excluded from recent summits, delivered one of Munich's more famous moments in 2007 in a speech attacking the US monopoly on global power, which foreshadowed a decline in relations between Moscow and the West.

Former German ambassador to the United States Wolfgang Ischinger, who chaired the conference from 2008 to 2022, will reportedly remain president of the MSC Foundation. Mr Heusgen is expected to stand down and make way for Mr Stoltenberg.

The handover at Nato will take place in a ceremony in Brussels on October 1. Mr Rutte's appointment was approved by Nato's 32 members in June, after disagreements over Mr Stoltenberg's successor led to him staying on for another year.

Mr Stoltenberg was previously asked to stay on in 2022 after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, scotching his plan to become governor of Norway's central bank. Since then he has encouraged Nato countries to spend more on their armed forces.

Mr Rutte, whose 14-year tenure as Dutch prime minister ended in July, is a supporter of Ukraine hailed by the White House as a "natural leader and communicator". He has told allies not to "moan and whine" about the possibility of Donald Trump winning back the US presidency.

Results

Female 49kg: Mayssa Bastos (BRA) bt Thamires Aquino (BRA); points 0-0 (advantage points points 1-0).

Female 55kg: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Amal Amjahid (BEL); points 4-2.

Female 62kg: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR); 10-2.

Female 70kg: Thamara Silva (BRA) bt Alessandra Moss (AUS); submission.

Female 90kg: Gabreili Passanha (BRA) bt Claire-France Thevenon (FRA); submission.

Male 56kg: Hiago George (BRA) bt Carlos Alberto da Silva (BRA); 2-2 (2-0)

Male 62kg: Gabriel de Sousa (BRA) bt Joao Miyao (BRA); 2-2 (2-1)

Male 69kg: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Isaac Doederlein (USA); 2-2 (2-2) Ref decision.

Male 77kg: Tommy Langarkar (NOR) by Oliver Lovell (GBR); submission.

Male 85kg: Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE); 2-2 (1-1) Ref decision.

Male 94kg: Kaynan Duarte (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL); submission.

Male 110kg: Joao Rocha (BRA) bt Yahia Mansoor Al Hammadi (UAE); submission.

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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