Sheikh Khaled honoured by King of Malaysia during royal reception

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, was honoured on Tuesday for his efforts to boost ties between the UAE and Malaysia during a royal reception hosted by King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian monarch gave Sheikh Khaled two medals in recognition of his work in furthering the friendship between the nations at a ceremony at the Istana Negara Palace.

The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince received the Darjah Kaerabat Sri Indera Mahkota Pahang Yang Amat Dihormati – Most Esteemed Royal Family Order of Pahang – and the Seri Maharaja Mangku Negara, the Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm.

Sheikh Khaled signed the palace's guest book and expressed his appreciation for the warm hospitality he had received on his official visit to the South-East Asian country.

He underlined the UAE's commitment to expanding its alliance with Malaysia, which dates back several decades.

Sheikh Khaled conveyed warm greetings from President Sheikh Mohamed to the king and the people of Malaysia, who relayed his own warm wishes.

The Crown Prince was accompanied by a delegation that included Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport; and Ahmed Jasem Al Zaabi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development.

Sheikh Khaled and King Sultan later enjoyed a helicopter tour of the Malaysian capital's landmarks.

Sheikh Khaled began his official visit on Sunday, holding talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim the following day.

They discussed ways to expand the framework of economic co-operation between the two countries in priority sectors such as healthcare services, clean energy, infrastructure and transport projects.

They also discussed strengthening co-operation through the establishment of a comprehensive economic partnership between the UAE and Malaysia.

COMPANY PROFILE

● Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street

The seven points are:

Shakhbout bin Sultan Street

Dhafeer Street

Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)

Salama bint Butti Street

Al Dhafra Street

Rabdan Street

Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)

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 Khaled honoured by King of Malaysia during royal reception

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi met King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah in Kuala Lumpur

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