Registration for the Dh1 million Arab Hope Maker prize was officially opened by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
On Monday, the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, launched the third round of the award, dedicated to promoting people in the Arab world who spread hope, and encompass values of giving and positivity, by dedicating their lives to helping others.
Written in the form of a job advertisement, Sheikh Mohammed took to Twitter to call for "creators of hope in our Arab world".
He said those who should apply are people, teams and entities who have vowed to help people in the fields of health, education, philanthropy, culture, environment or others. He described such applicants as "credit for us all in the bank of goodness and hope".
"Every one of us has a seed of good within them and every one of us is capable of giving. Each person has a talent that can be harnessed to serve the community," he said, posting a link to the Arab Hope Makers website where applications can be submitted.
The winner will be announced in May and receive Dh1m in recognition of their efforts, and as financial support to develop and expand their humanitarian projects to help more people.
The award, launched by Sheikh Mohammed three years ago, celebrates members of a community in the Arab world who are combatting social, economic, health and psychological issues with humanitarian initiatives, empowering marginalised groups in society, alleviating the suffering of the poor and sick, and investing in the neglected segments of a particular group.
Last year's winner, from a record 87,000 submissions, was Mahmoud Wahid, chairman of Together to Save a Human, who provides homeless people in Egypt with food and medical care.
The Egyptian, 35, first began working with the homeless after spotting an elderly man living on the street. Recognising that there was no authority in his home country to help the homeless, he set up an association to help provide them with shelter and health care.
During the award ceremony in Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed announced the formation of an Arab Hope Makers Academy, with a budget of Dh50m. Though only one winner is announced each year so far, Sheikh Mohammed has awarded each of the five finalists Dh1m to invest in their work and continue their philanthropic efforts.
In 2017, the inaugural year of the award, Nawal Al Soufi was announced the winner for her work to save refugees from sinking boats in the Mediterranean.
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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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