New investment opportunities in focus at inaugural Abu Dhabi Business Week

New investment opportunities and collaboration between the public and private sectors to drive growth and diversification of Abu Dhabi’s economy will be in focus at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Business Week in December.

More than 150 speakers and 8,000 policymakers, business executives, international investors and entrepreneurs will take part in the three-day event from December 4 to 6, the Abu Dhabi Media office said on Saturday.

The event is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

“Abu Dhabi Business Week will serve as a platform for businesses to connect and collaborate, driving the next phase of growth and diversification within our dynamic economy,” said Ahmed Al Zaabi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Supported by our multidimensional sustainable development strategies and a focus on new, high-growth sectors, Abu Dhabi’s business-friendly ecosystem offers promising opportunities for investors, businesses, and talents to thrive and expand on a global scale.”

Abu Dhabi's economy grew by an annualised 4.1 per cent in the second quarter of this year on the back of boost from the non-oil sector as the emirate continues to focus on diversification of its economy.

The value of Abu Dhabi’s economic output for the three months ending June 30 reached a record Dh297 billion ($80.87 billion), the Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi said this month.

For the first six months of this year, Abu Dhabi's economy recorded a 3.7 per cent jump on an annual basis as non-oil sector expanded by 6.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, reaching a record Dh164.2 billion.

The non-oil sector's share of the emirate's economy rose to more than 55.2 per cent, its highest since late 2014.

Apart from investment opportunities and public-private sector partnerships, the three day event will also focus on topics like innovation, procurement, women’s empowerment, family business and entrepreneurship.

The UAE capital is also home to major funds including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Company and investment and holding company ADQ.

The emirate has been recently ranked as the world's top city for sovereign wealth fund (SWF) capital, managing $1.67 trillion in assets, according to a new report by industry specialist Global SWF.

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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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