DUBAI // Men are at risk of being left in women’s shadows as the latter thrive in education and industry, according to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
The role of women in society was discussed in detail at the launch on Monday of the English edition of Flashes of Thought, a collection of speeches given by Sheikh Mohammed at the Government Summit 2013.
In one excerpt, he warns men to step up as their female counterparts are forging their way forward.
“Beware men lest women deprive you of all the leadership positions of the country,” he said.
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Development and International Cooperation, was one of the panellists at the event, held at the American University in Dubai. She praised the growing opportunities for women.
“Women are everywhere, they are pilots, government officials. It’s great for people to see this change for women,” she said.
Sheikha Lubna, who became the first female Cabinet member in 2004, said Sheikh Mohammed’s vision was to see “how you use women as an engine of change to drive society”.
Eighty-five per cent of Sheikh Mohammed’s personal staff are Emirati women.
“I personally could not manage my daily work without women,” he says in the book.
It is estimated that 30 per cent of the UAE’s leadership is female and that 65 per cent of government jobs are held by women.
Ian Fairservice, managing partner of Motivate publishing house, was also on the panel.
"It's a warning to men that only 15 per cent of Sheikh Mohammed's staff is men, that only 30 per cent of graduates are men," he said. "It's an example being set here. It's a stereotypical image that Arab women are not empowered.
“If we could see the same example being set by our neighbours in the region, that would change things very positively.”
Ali Jaber, dean of the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Communications at AUD, said 80 per cent of the school’s students were female, which reflected the desire to have women play a key role in the future of the country.
“Sheikh Mohammed looks further ahead and in setting up the school of communication, he truly believes that the new generation is going to be the leading generation of our times in the Arab world, and it’s these students who will be the future shapers and makers of Arab public opinion, who will really matter in spreading the energy that Sheikh Mohammed has been spreading across the Arab world,” Mr Jaber said.
Topics discussed by the panel included the chapter on risk-taking and calculated risk-taking as perceived by Sheikh Mohammed, who has been at the helm of some of the world’s most daring projects, from the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, to the Palm Jumeirah.
“We were told that building towers in the sea was impossible,” he says in the book. “Today we have the biggest man-made island in the world with hundreds of towers housing thousands of people.”
Sheikha Lubna said Sheikh Mohammed’s vision and fearlessness were infectious.
“There is no joy if you don’t take risks. Life is not an amusement park,” she said.
A student read a passage from the book that states: "Impossible is nowhere to be found in the dictionary of the UAE ... I have no clue who invented the word impossible but it was clearly someone looking for an easy life, a life of sleep and inactivity."
The book has been published in Arabic, English and Braille, and will be printed in six more languages by the end of the year.
“He is a great living example to take courage,” Sheikha Lubna said. “And also leave a legacy for others. The book is the journey of all of us.”
mswan@thenational.ae
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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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