Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed meets UFC president Dana White to discuss success of 'Return to Fight Island'

Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed, Chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Office, has met with UFC president Dana White to discuss the success of the recently concluded “Return to Fight Island”.

The UFC's second residency in the capital drew to a close early on Sunday with UFC 254, where Khabib Nurmagomedov retained his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje and then announced his retirement from the sport. The Russian was undefeated in all 29 professional bouts.

“Return to Fight Island”, which began with UFC 253 on September 27, comprised five events in all and was staged inside a specifically created safe zone on Yas Island. The inaugural series was hosted there in July.

Sheikh Khalid, who met White alongside Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak and Saif Saeed Ghobash, was said to have “commended the quality of the events that brought together top fighters from different countries and attracted viewers from around the world, thanks to the strong partnership Abu Dhabi has with the UFC”.

Abu Dhabi signed a five-year agreement with the world’s lead mixed martial arts organisation last year.

The Abu Dhabi Media Office said White “expressed his gratitude to Abu Dhabi for hosting Fight Island twice this year despite Covid-19 measures and with the highest standards of health and safety, reaffirming Abu Dhabi’s status as the new home of UFC”.

White told The National earlier this month that he hoped to bring a third Fight Island run to the emirate by February.

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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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Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed meets UFC president Dana White to discuss success of 'Return to Fight Island'

UFC’s second residency in the capital drew to a close early on Sunday with UFC 254, where Khabib Nurmagomedov retained his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje

UFC 254: Khabib beats Gaethje in Abu Dhabi

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