Cake Boss Buddy Valastro wows the crowd at Emirates Palace

ABU DHABI // Buddy Valastro, Jr, better known as the Cake Boss, delivered a lively, interactive show for around 1,200 people at Emirates Palace hotel on Saturday afternoon.

The star of the American reality TV show Cake Boss, which follows the daily operations of his family business, Carlo’s Bakery, the show is seen in 190 countries by 1.5 billion people.

Valastro's visit is part of Abu Dhabi Summer Season. It's his first time in the capital.

“You guys have a great country here,” he said. “Abu Dhabi has been awesome. There’s so much to do and see. It’s a good place to bring the kids and have a good time.”

True to his TV persona, Valastro came off as relaxed, funny and relatable during his two-hour show. He shared stories from his childhood and talked about life inside the bakery, all while demonstrating his cake-decorating skills and techniques.

Some members of the audience were moved to tears to see Valastro live on stage. Valastro, 37, says that is the kind of stuff that keeps him going.

“For a guy who’s just a baker from New Jersey, I’m very humble and I’m very appreciative of the fans,” he said. “Sometimes when I get up on that stage and I see families from all over the world together, it makes me want to cry. It makes me want to pinch myself and say, ‘wow, what an amazing experience.’”

Valastro is now shooting season seven of Cake Boss in the US. He believes the worldwide success of the show can be attributed to one common denominator: family.

“No matter where you go in the world, family values are important,” said Valastro. “No matter where you come from, no matter what nationality, race or religion, the one thing we all have in common is family. Cake Boss is a show that you can enjoy as a family.”

Families in the Gulf may soon be seeing more of Valastro. He's revealed his future plans to open bakeries in Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. They will be Valastro's first bakeries outside of the US.

Valastro’s visit also included a cake-decorating competition among home bakers and professional bakers.

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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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