Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque attracts 5.8m visitors in 2017

Abu Dhabi's iconic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque attracted 5,790,101 visitors in 2017, a figure higher than the average of 5 million visitors quoted to The National last year.

According to statistics released by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, the tally included 1,400,965 worshippers, 3,417,130 visitors, 857,510 iftar attendees and 2,496 Quran memorisation class students, and the rest were people who attended charitable meals.

Ahmed Al Zaabi, Deputy Minister for Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, said the centre seeked to promote the message of tolerance and extend the bridges of communication between diverse cultures and civilisations, according to Wam.

Last year, the attraction was ranked the world's second favourite landmark for the second year in a row, according to TripAdvisor, behind Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

"Achieving second place, two years in a row, as one of the most significant architectural monuments in the world, culminates the tremendous efforts and exceptional services the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque offers to visitors from all walks of life," Mr Al Zaabi said.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque highlights the legacy of the Founding Father Sheikh Zayed and commemorates his values, vision, memory, qualities and contributions to humanity.

The mosque has attracted some world famous visitors over the years. In 2007, the UK's Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall toured the site and in 2010, Queen Elizabeth II visited and paid her respects at the tomb of Sheikh Zayed. Prince Charles visited again in 2016.

Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner visited in 2014, Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton wore a kandura for his visit in 2015, while a controversial visit by the singer Rihanna in 2013 resulted in her being asked to leave for taking inappropriate pictures.

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The mosque that 'united the world'

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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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