LONDON // Prince William and his new wife Catherine took part in the pomp and pageantry as Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her official birthday on Saturday.
Queen Elizabeth II in the UAE
Last Updated: June 10, 2011
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William, her grandson, wore his wedding uniform – only this time complete with a bearskin hat for the traditional Trooping the Colour military parade in central London.
Dressed in the scarlet tunic of the honorary colonel of the Irish Guards, the Duke of Cambridge rode on horseback as Catherine joined other royals watching from a balcony.
It was the public's first chance to see the royal family all together since William and Kate's wedding on April 29, watched by an estimated two billion people around the world.
The event, celebrating the queen's 85th birthday, took place the day after her husband Prince Philip turned 90. He is the longest-serving consort in British history.
For the annual pageant, massed ranks of soldiers in the famous red tunics and bearskin hats of the British army march on Horse Guards Parade.
The Olympic beach volleyball competition will be held on the historic parade ground during the 2012 Games.
The pomp and ceremony of Trooping the Colour -- a hangover from preparations for battle when colours or flags were "trooped" down the rank so soldiers could recognise them -- marks the queen's official birthday.
Her actual birthday is on April 21 but historically the monarch has another in the summer months, because the weather is supposed to be better for open-air celebrations.
This year the colour paraded was that of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards.
There were huge cheers from the crowd as the royals left Buckingham Palace.
The queen and Prince Philip -- also wearing a bearskin -- rode in a phaeton carriage.
As regimental colonels, their eldest children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne rode alongside William, as did the queen's cousin Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent.
Catherine joined other royals including her brother-in-law Prince Harry in watching from a room that was once military hero the Duke of Wellington's office.
After the ceremony, the royals were to head back to Buckingham Palace to gather on the balcony for the first time since William's wedding.
This time Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip will take centre stage as they watch the traditional flypast.
Twenty-five aircraft of 11 different types will take part, including a World War II Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster, modern Typhoon fighters and the Red Arrows aerobatics display team.
Prince Philip received a new royal title on his 90th birthday Friday, as the outspoken consort said he would finally scale back his workload.
The queen made him Lord High Admiral -- the titular head of the British Royal Navy -- partly in recognition of the promising seafaring career which Philip gave up to spend a lifetime at her side.
The plain-speaking patriarch spent his birthday with a characteristic lack of fuss, hosting a charity reception and chairing a conference for military colonels.
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
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.”
WHY AAYAN IS 'PERFECT EXAMPLE'
David White might be new to the country, but he has clearly already built up an affinity with the place.
After the UAE shocked Pakistan in the semi-final of the Under 19 Asia Cup last month, White was hugged on the field by Aayan Khan, the team’s captain.
White suggests that was more a sign of Aayan’s amiability than anything else. But he believes the young all-rounder, who was part of the winning Gulf Giants team last year, is just the sort of player the country should be seeking to produce via the ILT20.
“He is a delightful young man,” White said. “He played in the competition last year at 17, and look at his development from there till now, and where he is representing the UAE.
“He was influential in the U19 team which beat Pakistan. He is the perfect example of what we are all trying to achieve here.
“It is about the development of players who are going to represent the UAE and go on to help make UAE a force in world cricket.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
The Iron Claw
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Holt McCallany, Lily James
Rating: 4/5
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
