A picture taken on January 12, 2018 shows the logo on the headquarters building of French dairy group Lactalis in Laval, western France. Damien Meyer / AFP
A picture taken on January 12, 2018 shows the logo on the headquarters building of French dairy group Lactalis in Laval, western France. Damien Meyer / AFP

UAE

Ministry orders retailers to withdraw baby food product from shelves

Lactalis International had voluntarily withdrawn all batches of its products that were packed in its Craon plant because of possible contamination with salmonella

The National

February 17, 2018

The Ministry of Health and Prevention has ordered retailers across the country to withdraw baby food produced by the French company Lactalis that may be tainted with harmful bacteria.

Lactalis has voluntarily withdrawn all batches of its products that were packed in its Craon plant because of possible contamination with salmonella agona, which can cause fever and diarrhoea.

Any agents authorised to distribute and sell the products in the UAE have been asked to withdraw the products immediately from circulation, the ministry said on Saturday.

Separately, the ministry also warned against the use of unlicensed addiction remedies, cosmetics containing a high concentration of mercury, a herbal formula for weight loss and nutritional supplements that cause high blood pressure and skin whitening products.

The ministry identified 12 illegal, potentially unsafe products falsely claiming to treat opiate addiction. The companies and products include: Opiate Freedom Center (Opiate Freedom 5-Pack); U4Life LLC (Mitadone); CalmSupport LLC (CalmSupport); TaperAid (TaperAid and TaperAid Complete); Medicus Holistic Alternatives LLC (Natracet); NutraCore Health Products LLC (Opiate Detox Pro); Healthy Healing LLC (Withdrawal Support); Soothedrawal Inc. (Soothedrawal); Choice Detox Center Inc. (Nofeel); GUNA Inc. (GUNA-ADDICT 1); and King Bio Inc. (AddictaPlex).

The public has also been warned about the dangers of three Chinese cosmetic products used for bleaching and clearing the skin, which contained a high concentration of globally-banned mercury following an analysis of the products. These products, which are not registered with the ministry, include Yalan Cream, Slimming Body Capsule Plus and Hao Meng Specific Wipe off Fleck Cream.

A warning was also issued against the herbal drink Tarty Slim Plus Capsules from the Thailand-based company Rawinnipa. The weight loss drink that could cause high-blood pressure and contains undeclared pharmaceutical substances.

The ministry also cautioned against certain Flawless Beauty's skin whitening product, which are sold on www.flawlessbeautyandskin.com.

People can contact the ministry for more information on all the products listed at 800 11111

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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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