Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, greets a guest accompanying Dalia Grybauskait, President of Lithuania, during a reception at Mushrif Palace. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

Government

Sheikh Mohammed meets Lithuanian President; Sheikh Hamdan visits KHDA - in pictures

A look at the happenings across the UAE

Juman Jarallah
Juman Jarallah
UAE

November 01, 2017

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, received Dalia Grybauskaite, President of the Republic of Lithuania, at the Al Mushrif Palace on Tuesday.

Official reception ceremonies were held at the palace court upon the Lithuanian president's arrival, then she and Sheikh Mohammed discussed co-operation between the two countries in various fields.

Both sides discussed bilateral relations and the importance of their development in economic, commercial, and investment fields, especially in the area of renewable energy, advanced technology, innovation and agriculture.

Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, discussed the latest regional and global developments with his Lithuanian counterpart, Linas Linkevicius, in the capital on Tuesday too. During the meeting, which held at the ministry's premises and attended by Dr Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills, the two ministers also discussed prospects for joint co-operation in future skills and advanced technology.

In Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, visited the Knowledge and Development Authority with Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. During his visit, Sheikh Hamdan directed the KHDA, to draft a plan to increase the percentage of Emirati pupils admission in private schools over the next three years. He also reviewed the 'Comprehensive Survey of Student Quality of Life in Dubai 2017', which will provide data to government and schools to help improve pupils’ quality of life.

In Ajman, Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman, and Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman, attended funeral prayers for Sheikha Nora bint Ali bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, wife of Abdulla Al Ghurair, at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in the Al Jurf area. She died on Monday.

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.”

Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier

ICC Academy, November 22-28

UAE fixtures
Nov 22, v Malaysia
Nov 23, v Hong Kong
Nov 25, v Bhutan
Nov 26, v Kuwait
Nov 28, v Nepal

ICC T20I rankings
14. Nepal
17. UAE
25. Hong Kong
34. Kuwait
35. Malaysia
44. Bhutan 

UAE squad
Chaya Mughal (captain), Natasha Cherriath, Samaira Dharnidharka, Kavisha Egodage, Mahika Gaur, Priyanjali Jain, Suraksha Kotte, Vaishnave Mahesh, Judit Peter, Esha Rohit, Theertha Satish, Chamani Seneviratne, Khushi Sharma, Subha Venkataraman

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