• Members of the Huinchiri community repair the Q’eswachaka hanging bridge, which crosses the Apurimac River in Quehue, Peru. The rope walkway was built by the Incas more than 500 years ago and the skills associated with maintaining it were added to Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2013. The bridge took three months to restore after it fell into disrepair during the Covid-19 pandemic. AFP
    Members of the Huinchiri community repair the Q’eswachaka hanging bridge, which crosses the Apurimac River in Quehue, Peru. The rope walkway was built by the Incas more than 500 years ago and the skills associated with maintaining it were added to Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2013. The bridge took three months to restore after it fell into disrepair during the Covid-19 pandemic. AFP
  • A visitor looks at a large sculpture entitled 'Hahn/Cock', by German-born artist Katharina Fritsch, on the first day of the reopening to the public of the National Gallery of Art's East Building, in Washington, DC, US. EPA
    A visitor looks at a large sculpture entitled 'Hahn/Cock', by German-born artist Katharina Fritsch, on the first day of the reopening to the public of the National Gallery of Art's East Building, in Washington, DC, US. EPA
  • A dog is seen on a canoe next to cattle on the banks of the Solimoes river that flooded the rural municipality of Manacapuru, in Amazonas state, Brazil. Reuters
    A dog is seen on a canoe next to cattle on the banks of the Solimoes river that flooded the rural municipality of Manacapuru, in Amazonas state, Brazil. Reuters
  • Musicians Roni Aran and Herman Artuc, members of the ethnic instrumental music band of Fungistanbul, perform with instruments made by materials collected from landfills, at a recycling depot in Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters
    Musicians Roni Aran and Herman Artuc, members of the ethnic instrumental music band of Fungistanbul, perform with instruments made by materials collected from landfills, at a recycling depot in Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters
  • Ethiopian police officers march as a ceremony is held to show the new uniforms and logo in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AFP
    Ethiopian police officers march as a ceremony is held to show the new uniforms and logo in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AFP
  • A Royal Moroccan Air Force Aerospatiale SA 330 Puma flies over during the "African Lion" military exercise in the Tan-Tan region in southwestern Morocco. AFP
    A Royal Moroccan Air Force Aerospatiale SA 330 Puma flies over during the "African Lion" military exercise in the Tan-Tan region in southwestern Morocco. AFP
  • Ethiopian Orthodox children play near a church in Bahir Dar, northern Ethiopia. AFP
    Ethiopian Orthodox children play near a church in Bahir Dar, northern Ethiopia. AFP
  • Palestinian youths ride horses in a street in Gaza City. AFP
    Palestinian youths ride horses in a street in Gaza City. AFP
  • A composite image of 5 separate photographs taken with a single fixed camera shows a sunspot and the International Space Station in silhouette as it transits the Sun, as seen from near Tbilisi, Georgia. Picture taken through a telescope. Reuters
    A composite image of 5 separate photographs taken with a single fixed camera shows a sunspot and the International Space Station in silhouette as it transits the Sun, as seen from near Tbilisi, Georgia. Picture taken through a telescope. Reuters
  • Houseboats anchored in low water levels at Lake Oroville, which is the second largest reservoir in California and according to daily reports of the state's Department of Water Resources is near 35% capacity, near Oroville, California, US. Picture taken with a drone. Reuters
    Houseboats anchored in low water levels at Lake Oroville, which is the second largest reservoir in California and according to daily reports of the state's Department of Water Resources is near 35% capacity, near Oroville, California, US. Picture taken with a drone. Reuters
  • Communal workers clean a giant clock in downtown Kiev, Ukraine. EPA
    Communal workers clean a giant clock in downtown Kiev, Ukraine. EPA

World

From a Peruvian bridge being repaired to a giant clock in Kiev - today's best pictures

Take a look at some of the best images from around the world in the past 24 hours

The National

June 19, 2021

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More from The National:

From Coldplay's Chris Martin to anti-Taliban milita fire - Friday's best pictures

From a car driving on water in Egypt to a space rocket launch in China - Thursday's best pictures

From lemurs in Chile to a launch pad in China - Wednesday's best pictures

From an Illinois chemical plant fire to diamond hunters in South Africa - Tuesday's best pictures

From a fish farm worker in Najaf to fireworks at the Copa America 2021 – Monday's best pictures

ARGENTINA SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Agustin Marchesin, Esteban Andrada
Defenders: Juan Foyth, Nicolas Otamendi, German Pezzella, Nicolas Tagliafico, Ramiro Funes Mori, Renzo Saravia, Marcos Acuna, Milton Casco
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Roberto Pereyra, Rodrigo De Paul, Angel Di Maria
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala, Matias Suarez

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Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol

Power: 190hp

Torque: 320Nm

Price: From Dh147,000

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At a glance

Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free

Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan

Desert Warrior

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: 3/5

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

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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