US Vice President Mike Pence listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on May 7, 2020. AFP
US Vice President Mike Pence listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on May 7, 2020. AFP
US Vice President Mike Pence listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on May 7, 2020. AFP
US Vice President Mike Pence listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on May 7, 2020. AFP

US Vice President ‘limits exposure’ after aide tests positive for coronavirus


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US Vice President Mike Pence will keep a “little distance” from the outside world after an aide tested positive for Covid-19, but he will attend White House meetings on Monday.

A senior US official told NBC about Mr Pence's plans as his office denied reports that he would isolate himself after his aide, Katie Miller, tested positive for the virus on Friday.

He "will continue to follow the advice of the White House medical unit and is not in quarantine", his spokesman Devin O'Malley said.

"Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow."

Mr Pence and US President Donald Trump are tested regularly.

By limiting his exposure, Mr Pence is following medical advice, NBC said. He did not attend a national security meeting on Saturday.

"At this point, for a day or two, give a little distance. It doesn’t mean anything for next week,” the senior official said.

Three people who work at the White House, including Ms Miller, have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past week.

Ms Miller’s husband, Stephen, is Mr Trump’s senior adviser and speech writer, but he has reportedly tested negative.

Some of those exposed to Ms Miller and the two other infected officials are now isolating themselves, including three senior members of Mr Trump’s coronavirus task force.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Robert Redfield, director of the Centres for Disease Control, and Stephen Hahn, head of the Food and Drug Administration, are in quarantine.

But the three are scheduled to testify online in front of Congress on Tuesday.

US Navy Chief Admiral Michael Gilday will undergo a week of quarantine after coming in contact with an infected person, Fox News reported on Sunday.

The number of infections in the US has passed 1.3 million and 79,522 deaths have been recorded, the Johns Hopkins University tracker said.

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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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Singapore

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Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand

Number of employees: 125

Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners

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Date started: August 2021

Founder: Nour Sabri

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace

Size: Two employees

Funding stage: Seed investment

Initial investment: $200,000

Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East)