King Charles thanks Aberdeenshire people who helped organise queen's journey south

King Charles III has personally thanked people who helped to organise Queen Elizabeth II’s journey from Balmoral after her death.

The king and Queen Consort Camilla visited the Victoria and Albert Halls in Ballater, near the Scottish home of the royal family, where they attended a reception on Tuesday to thank the community.

They met some of the 550 people who supported the operation and helped to organise events.

Guests included council workers, civic leaders and pupils from Ballater's Crathie School.

Officers from Police Scotland, as well as the fire and ambulance services, were also in attendance.

The king and queen consort are also expected to see the tractors that formed a tribute to the late queen at Banchory, and meet the horses and riders that lined the route of the cortege as it travelled south from Balmoral, through Aberdeenshire, to Edinburgh on its six-hour journey.

Queen Elizabeth II's funeral: extraordinary images from an extraordinary day — in pictures

People came out in cities and in rural areas, where farmers parked their tractors side by side and horse riders gathered to pay their respects.

About 25,000 people lined the streets across the county as the queen's cortege made its way to the Scottish capital last month, where she was laid to rest at St Giles' Cathedral.

The queen’s children, led by the current monarch, walked in procession behind the queen’s coffin as it made its way to the cathedral.

The queen died on September 8 at her Balmoral estate, with Princess Anne, her only daughter, by her side.

Members of her family — Prince William, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex — were en route to see her at the time.

Procession of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin through Edinburgh — in pictures

The queen had a deep connection to Scotland, which she visited each summer, and she referred to the 30,000-hectare Balmoral estate as her “second home”.

She carried out her first royal duties in Scotland in Aberdeen in 1944 when she was only a teenager and yet to ascend to the throne.

She completed her final duties two days before her death, inviting new Prime Minister Liz Truss to form a government.

She died of old age, according to her death certificate.

The Brutalist

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Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn

Rating: 3.5/5

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The biog

Age: 59

From: Giza Governorate, Egypt

Family: A daughter, two sons and wife

Favourite tree: Ghaf

Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense

Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”

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Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry

Rating: 2/5

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

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.”

Suggested picnic spots

Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City

Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes