Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, with King Frederik X of Denmark on Wednesday. Photo: Wam
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, with King Frederik X of Denmark on Wednesday. Photo: Wam

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UAE

Sheikh Abdullah meets King of Denmark in Copenhagen

Meeting held at Royal Palace as working visit to Denmark begins

The National

March 12, 2025

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday met King Frederik X of Denmark at the Royal Palace in Copenhagen.

During the meeting in the Danish capital, Sheikh Abdullah conveyed the best wishes of President Sheikh Mohamed as talks focused on bilateral relations between the UAE and Denmark, state news agency Wam reported.

Sheikh Abdullah also said he hopes the UAE can collaborate with Denmark in future, expanding and developing on areas of joint co-operation.

Also on Wednesday, he met Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Denmark’s Foreign Minister, to sign an agreement in the field of sustainable agricultural and food systems.

The two men reviewed bilateral ties and ways to develop co-operation in sectors including health, renewable energy and artificial intelligence. They also exchanged views on regional and international developments, specifically on ways to maintain international peace and security.

He also met Soren Gade Jensen, Speaker of the Danish Parliament, to discuss ways of strengthening bilateral ties, including parliamentary relations. During these talks, Sheikh Abdullah emphasised the crucial role of parliaments in strengthening relations between nations.

Among Sheikh Abdullah's delegation are Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation; Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Commercial Affairs; Fatima Al Mazrouei, UAE ambassador to Norway and non-resident ambassador to Denmark; Abdullah Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability; Omran Sharaf, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Advanced Science and Technology; and Omar Saif Ghobash, Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and non-resident ambassador to the Vatican.

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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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Updated: March 12, 2025, 6:05 PM