Abu Dhabi// France's 500 person military base in Abu Dhabi is expected to open this May, it was reported today. President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit the UAE to inaugurate the base, French diplomatic sources were quoted as saying by the Asharaq Al-Awsat newspaper, according to Agence France-Presse. The agreement between France and the UAE to house the base in Abu Dhabi was signed last year. It will be the first French base in the Gulf region and will host up to 500 army, navy and air force military personnel, facing the Strait of Hormuz. It has also been reported that 150 navel personnel will be stationed at Abu Dhabi port. The Saudi paper reported French diplomatic sources as saying that this is part of France's efforts to strengthen relations with countries in the area. The waterway borders Iran, Oman and the UAE and is the only nautical passage to the ocean in the region. It is estimated that 40 per cent of the world's marine transported oil passes through the strait, which narrows to only 54km wide at some points. The French ambassador, Alain Azouaou, said in December that the region is becoming increasingly important to international security and that the base would provide a way for France to be "present where it should be present." Military co-operation between France and the UAE was solidified with a mutual defence agreement signed in 1995. It is also one of several nations assisting the UAE with nuclear energy. This is only the second military base operated by a Western country in the Gulf, excluding the United States. amcmeans@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.”