Jordan's King Abdullah II, left, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. AFP
Jordan's King Abdullah II, left, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. AFP
Jordan's King Abdullah II, left, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. AFP
Jordan's King Abdullah II, left, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. AFP

Jordan's King Abdullah II discusses security issues with Saudi Crown Prince in Jeddah


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Jordan's King Abdullah II met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on Wednesday to discuss security issues in the Middle East.

The meeting comes after Jordan announced a ban on the Muslim Brotherhood over alleged links to a bomb plot.

Official Saudi news agency SPA said the two leaders "exchanged views on key developments in the Arab and Islamic worlds and addressed regional issues, particularly those related to the security and stability of the Middle East".

Jordanian authorities on Wednesday imposed a ban on the activities of the Brotherhood after dozens of its members were implicated in an alleged armed plot against the state. The group is also banned in Saudi Arabia.

Jordan's Interior Minister Mazen Al Faraya announced on TV that membership of the Brotherhood had been prohibited and all of its offices in the kingdom closed. Jordanian media is also banned from advocating for the group.

A Jordanian court last Wednesday charged 12 Muslim Brotherhood suspects with terrorism-related crimes over an alleged plan to manufacture weapons and drones and use them to destabilise the country.

Mr Al Faraya said authorities found weapons and explosives in residential areas, covert missile manufacturing facilities and "training and recruitment operations" linked to the group.

Jordan's King Abdullah II. AFP
Jordan's King Abdullah II. AFP

It was the first time in decades that a domestic group had been accused of plotting a deadly scheme on this scale.

The meeting between King Abdullah and Prince Mohammed also "touched on regional developments, in particular the situation in Gaza and the West Bank", Jordan's official Petra news agency said.

It also comes as the two Washington allies grapple with how to respond to tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

Jordan is being subjected to a 20 per cent levy on its exports to the US, despite a free trade agreement between the two countries since 2010, while Saudi Arabia is being hit with the baseline tariff of 10 per cent.

Mr Trump has also made cuts to US aid, which threaten to have far-reaching consequences for Jordan.

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Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

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Rating: 2.5/5 

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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