A nurses' leader has pleaded with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to intervene in their pay dispute and help find a solution.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen said a “meaningful” pay offer from the government could still avert strike action.
Thousands of nurses, ambulance crew and other health workers are due to take action from Monday.
The strikes are part of a wider series of walkouts that includes rail workers, teachers, civil servants and others.
Workers are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis during which inflation has exceeded 10 per cent but pay offers fall short.
In a letter to Mr Sunak, Ms Cullen drew a comparison with his swift action sacking Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi after he was found to have breached the ministerial code in relation to his tax affairs.
“As shown by last weekend’s fast-paced changes in Cabinet, big decisions can be made by you at any point in the week in the interests of good government,” she wrote.
“I am urging you to use this weekend to reset your government in the eyes of the public and demonstrate it is on the side of the hardworking, decent taxpayer.
“There could be no simpler way to demonstrate this commitment than bringing the nurse strike to a swift close.”
On Monday, RCN nurses will walk out alongside GMB and Unite paramedics, call handlers and other staff at ambulance trusts.
Nurses will strike again on Tuesday, physiotherapists on Thursday and ambulance workers again on Friday.
In Wales though, the RCN and other unions have called off similar action after receiving a new pay offer from the Welsh government.
With negotiations also continuing in Scotland, Ms Cullen warned Mr Sunak that his government was becoming “increasingly isolated”.
“As a result, the strike action for England next week remains, with tens of thousands of individuals losing wages to ensure you hear their voice.
“It must not be in vain. It will be the biggest day of industrial action in the 75-year history of the NHS.
“Nursing staff find that a sobering realisation of how far they have been pushed to protect patient care and secure some respect for the nursing profession.”
The NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations, has also said “the intensifying waves of industrial action”, must be brought to an end.
“We urge ministers to take the first step and find a resolution to this deadlock with the unions,” said chief executive Matthew Taylor on Friday.
“It is not only the disruption on the day that is a cause of worry but the longer-term damage on service delivery, staff morale, reform, and how the public engages with the NHS too.”
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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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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