More than 2,000 cases of illegal taxi drivers have been reported to police in Abu Dhabi this year. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National 
More than 2,000 cases of illegal taxi drivers have been reported to police in Abu Dhabi this year. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National 

Economy

Edelman appoints returnee Omar Qirem as CEO of Middle East arm

Chief rejoins marketing firm in Dubai from Saudi Arabian family business Abdul Latif Jameel

The National

July 01, 2018

International marketing and communications firm Edelman said Omar Qirem will join the firm as CEO of Edelman Middle East.

An Edelman returnee, Mr Qirem will report to Carol Potter, president and CEO, Edelman EMEA.

"Omar returns to Edelman with a raft of experience leading and executing strategic communications programmes across multiple sectors and markets. He brings our clients and teams in the UAE deep market knowledge and expertise, as well as a strong understanding of government and public policy engagement. I am delighted to announce this appointment for our operations in the Middle East,” Ms Potter said.

Mr Qirem rejoins Edelman from Saudi Arabian family business Abdul Latif Jameel where he was director of communications. In this role, he was responsible for international communications covering 30 countries and 16,000 staff across multiple sectors such as automotive, energy, and investments.

Prior to this, he was a director in Edelman Saudi Arabia from 2012-2016, and was also responsible for public affairs and crisis in the Middle East.

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Born and raised in Jeddah Mr Qirem has two decades of communications experience in the British government, as well as agency and corporate roles in the Middle East. During this time, he has provided communications counsel for private-sector campaigns, major government initiatives, B2B marketing, and reputation management.

“Having grown up in Saudi Arabia and lived in the United Arab Emirates for a number of years, I feel very passionate about the Middle East," Mr Qirem said. "It is clear the whole region is transforming, and Edelman - with its current team, regional experience, global network, deep sector capabilities and local expertise - is well-placed to help clients succeed. I really look forward to starting in the near future.”

Based in Dubai, from September, Mr Qiram will cover all of Edelman’s offices in the Middle East.

He succeeds Tod Donhauser, who has returned home to the US, as managing director of Edelman’s Bay area.

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.”