Janet Napolitano, the US secretary of homeland security, visits Zayed University.
Janet Napolitano, the US secretary of homeland security, visits Zayed University.

UAE

Fort Hood killer 'does not represent Muslims': American security chief

On a visit to Abu Dhabi, the US secretary of homeland security says grassroots efforts are vital to preserving relations between Muslim Americans and the wider community.

Daniel Bardsley
Daniel Bardsley

November 09, 2009

ABU DHABI // The killing of 13 people by a Muslim psychiatrist at an American army base must not lead to the victimisation of Muslim Americans, the US secretary of homeland security has said. On a visit to the capital, Janet Napolitano said grassroots efforts were vital to preserving relations between Muslim Americans and the wider community after Friday's shootings at Fort Hood in Texas.

"We object to, and do not believe, that anti-Muslim sentiment should emanate from this," she said. "This was an individual who does not represent the Muslim faith." Describing the killings as "a terrible tragedy", Ms Napolitano said a civil rights and civil liberties directorate in her department aimed to "prevent everybody being painted with a broad brush". "That work is ongoing and is part and parcel of how we view security," she said. "One of the things we'll do is make sure that we're reaching out to the state and local authorities within the US, because they often have better outreach to members of the Muslim community than we do." Ms Napolitano was speaking to female students at Zayed University, and took part in a private question-and-answer session with them.

She said her visit to the UAE was part of the "outreach" programme to the Muslim community by the US administration, one that included the June speech in Cairo by the US president, Barack Obama. Talks with officials during her visit centred on "general co-operation" between the UAE and the US on issues such as "training and sharing best practices", she added. "And it's just to introduce myself as a member of the Obama administration so they get to know me a little bit as a person," she said. After the speech she stopped short of saying there would be a review of the policy that requires UAE nationals to apply for visas to visit the US. Americans can travel to the Emirates without a visa.

Ms Napolitano said she could not comment on such "specifics" due to a pending overhaul of the entire American immigration system, which she described as being "outdated in some major respects". The requirement to obtain a visa "should not be viewed as a reason not to visit" the country, according to the 51-year-old former federal prosecutor and governor of Arizona. "Travel, tourism and business between colleagues across countries is helpful in building a relationship," she said.

The US government, she said, wanted to ensure that the process of obtaining a visa went "as smoothly as possible" for those who applied. Ms Napolitano's department is the third-largest in the US government, employing 230,000 people and taking responsibility for areas such as emergency response, security services and the coastguard. During her talk to students, Ms Napolitano described how she first decided to run for elected office as Arizona's attorney general.

"People said, 'Janet, you're a woman, you're a Democrat, there's no way you could be elected attorney general of this state'," she said. "I ran and was elected." "When the governorship was opening up, I decided to run for governor. I ran in 2002 and was elected by one percentage point." Her opponent took several days to concede. Ms Napolitano joked she spent that time "at a spa". Afterwards Ms Napolitano said the Zayed University students she met were "very impressive and well informed", quizzing her during the private session on issues such as American foreign policy and the demands of running for office.

dbardsley@thenational.ae

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia

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.”