Catherine, Princess of Wales talks with parents and children at the Hillingdon centre. Getty Images
Catherine, Princess of Wales talks with parents and children at the Hillingdon centre. Getty Images
Catherine, Princess of Wales talks with parents and children at the Hillingdon centre. Getty Images
Catherine, Princess of Wales talks with parents and children at the Hillingdon centre. Getty Images

Princess of Wales puts mental health care for mothers in spotlight


Simon Rushton
  • English
  • Arabic

The Princess of Wales is visiting a children's centre to learn how vulnerable mothers can find mental health support.

Kate met staff and clients and health professionals at Colham Manor Children's Centre in Hillingdon, west London, in her role as patron of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA).

The royal couple have long been supporters of mental health charities and are known to raise the profile of groups working in the field.

During her tour of the centre, Kate heard how the care provided in Hillingdon is targeted for the needs of the women and their families.

She met women who have been supported by two of the MMHA's member organisations — Home-Start and Birth Companions.

The princess joined a mother and baby group and spoke with mums who have received mental health support to hear about their experiences of the borough's integrated care system.

The Hillingdon centre helps women and their families. Getty Images
The Hillingdon centre helps women and their families. Getty Images

MMHA is a UK-wide charity and network of more than 100 organisations, working to ensuring women and families affected by perinatal mental problems have access to high-quality comprehensive care and support.

Kate met representatives from agencies working across perinatal services in Hillingdon, including specialist psychiatry staff, midwives, health visitors and social workers, for a round-table discussion convened by the MMHA.

Within the discussion, the group told how the service has developed to meet the needs of the most vulnerable mothers in their community, the impact this has had, and opportunities for further growth.

Earlier this year, Prince William and Kate recorded a special programme on BBC Radio One’s Newsbeat to mark World Mental Health Day.

The royal couple talked to advocates and experts about young people and their mental well-being.

They showed off mental health tools that can provide people with coping skills and resources to ease anxiety and depression.

And earlier this week, the Prince of Wales spoke with England football stars about how sport has bolstered their mental well-being.

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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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Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
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