Dr Hanan Al Ahmadi, assistant president of the Saudi Arabian Shura Council, made history on Wednesday by becoming the first woman to chair a session of the body.
King Salman issued a royal order appointing Dr Al Ahmadi, an academic who specialises in economics and health management, as an assistant to the Speaker of the Shura Council, in October.
She is the first Saudi woman to hold a top leadership position in the council and became one of the first women appointed to it seven years ago.
Dr Al Ahmadi presided over its sixth session, held online, in the absence of council president Sheikh Abdullah Al Sheikh and Vice President Dr Mishaal Al Sulami, in accordance with Article 6 of the Shura Council bylaw.
"When our King appointed Dr Hanan in a top position never held by a woman before, it felt empowering and has many young girls dreaming," said Shahd Alghamdi, a law student in Riyadh.
"Now that we know we can achieve milestones, we want to pursue them and work harder to make our families and country proud."
Dr Al Ahmadi is a member of the board of trustees of the Riyadh Economic Forum, the editorial board of the Journal of Public Administration and the Scientific Council of IPA, and a board member of the Saudi Management Association.
Dr Faisal Al Fadel, a member of the Shura Council, said that Dr Al Ahmadi chairing the session was a historic event.
Dr Al Fadel said it was part of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 and realisation of one of its most important goals, which includes empowering women and investing in their capabilities.
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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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Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
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Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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