British media reports that former British prime minister David Cameron will be teaching at NYUAD for three weeks in January. Reuters
British media reports that former British prime minister David Cameron will be teaching at NYUAD for three weeks in January. Reuters
British media reports that former British prime minister David Cameron will be teaching at NYUAD for three weeks in January. Reuters
British media reports that former British prime minister David Cameron will be teaching at NYUAD for three weeks in January. Reuters

David Cameron takes teaching job at New York University Abu Dhabi


Sarah Forster
  • English
  • Arabic

David Cameron, the UK's former prime minister, has accepted a teaching position at New York University Abu Dhabi.

He will lecture students on politics in the age of disruption during a three-week course in January, NYUAD confirmed to The National. The course will be available to all NYUAD students, as well as full time NYU undergraduates in other locations. Topics will include migration and the invasion of Ukraine.

"David Cameron will be teaching a three-week course as part of J-Term in January titled Practising Politics and Government in the Age of Disruption," a statement from the university said.

"NYU Abu Dhabi offers J-Term courses in many locations around the world. Many classes are open not only to NYU Abu Dhabi students but also to full-time NYU undergraduates from other locations in their sophomore, junior, or senior year. These courses give students the opportunity to study together and experience the rich diversity of the NYU Global Network.

"In addition to faculty, J-Term courses are taught by renowned scholars, writers, artists, journalists, practitioners, and policy analysts who teach only during the January term."

Mr Cameron appeared at the Abu Dhabi Ideas Festival in 2018, an NYUAD event, and spoke at a session titled Polarising: Bridging the Gaps and Cancer: An End in Sight. There he commented on one of the topics he will be lecturing about in January.

“Clearly in Britain, we have to do better in controlling immigration … [it is the] number one political issue year after year,” he said.

Political disruption is a subject Mr Cameron knows much about. He was prime minister between 2010 and 2016, when he agreed to give the British people the choice of whether to remain in the EU or not. When the vote for leaving it came in, he resigned, prompting a carousel of leaders for a divided nation.

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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: December 17, 2022, 7:34 AM