ABU DHABI // Research scholars in Abu Dhabi have laid stress on forming a model for the support of scientific research in the GCC region to increase communication and cooperation between them.
In celebration of the twentieth anniversary of its establishment, the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) convened a conference on “The Role of Research Centers in Supporting Public Policy” on Wednesday.
The panelists focused on the ways in which research centres in their regions interact with decision makers and influence public policy.
Prof Yehya bin Jonaid, Secretary General of the King Faisal Center for Islamic Studies in Saudi Arabia called the ECSSR a model for the support of scientific research in the region.
He proposed a gathering of GCC research centres be convened to increase communication and cooperation between them, and suggested that GCC and Arab universities must establish centres of regional studies, including language studies, to enable Arab institutions to better inform policymakers.
Steven Bennett, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Brookings Institution in the United States of America quoted a maxim attributed to the founder of his institution, Robert S. Brookings: “Government needs external research”.
He noted that the aim of think tanks is to provide independent research to the government and to train the government workforce.
Whereas Dr Farhan Nizami, Director of the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies suggested that the think tanks must be sheltered from political considerations to ensure that their analysis remains unbiased.
Ambassador David Mack, a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington and the former US ambassador to the UAE, said because of the enormous variety of ideologies, ethnicities and interest groups represented by research centres in the United States, the work of these institutions must be evaluated in light of their policy agendas.
The event was held under the patronage of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and President of the ECSSR.
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Company: Verity
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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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Year started: 2017
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