Abu Dhabi has passed a new law to establish the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Authority as part of efforts to support the UAE’s vision for social development and welfare.
President Sheikh Mohamed, the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, issued the law establishing the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Authority in the UAE’s capital, the Abu Dhabi Media Office reported on Friday.
The new entity will assume the responsibilities of the Social Care and Minors Affairs Foundation and all its assets, properties, rights and liabilities will be transferred to the new agency.
“The AMAA will also manage all endowment affairs in the emirate,” the media office said.
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, appointed Abdulhamid Saeed, former governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, as chairman of the Awqaf and Minor Affairs Authority, the media office tweeted on Friday.
An endowment is a donation of money or property to a non-profit organisation, which uses the resulting investment income for a specific purpose.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, launched the Dubai Endowments Strategy in April to spread the culture of endowments and reinforce the emirate’s role as a global leader in philanthropy and humanitarianism.
The strategy also aims to provide a road map for building a sustainable endowment sector. Awqaf Dubai will oversee the implementation of the strategy.
The value of Dubai’s endowments reached Dh8.8 billion ($2.4 billion) in 2022, with 493 endowers and a total of 839 endowments.
In co-ordination with the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, the AMAA will take measures to manage endowment affairs in Abu Dhabi, including endowment registration, supervision and the issuing of permits for endowment institutions in the emirate, the statement said.
The new entity will also manage, invest, grow and safeguard endowment and minors’ wealth.
The AMAA can buy shares in companies and funds to invest in the UAE and abroad in line with Sharia and applicable laws.
An investment committee, whose members are non-AMAA employees, will be established to make decisions on the investment of minors’ and endowment assets, according to the statement.
The new body will also organise events on the management of endowment and minors’ wealth to promote the values of giving in the emirate.
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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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Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
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