Abu Dhabi // A boxing administrator who was one of the forces behind women's boxing making its Olympic debut at the London Games will be a key speaker at an international conference on women's sports in Abu Dhabi.
Aine Power, the legal manager of the International Boxing Association, will share her views at the conference, organised by the Fatima bint Mubarak Women Sports Academy in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, and to be held at the Emirates Palace hotel on April 10 and 11.
"This conference will bring new enthusiasm and lay the foundation for the Emirati women to take an active part and encourage them to pursue full-time careers in sports," said Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, the general secretary of the ADSC. "There will be several renowned speakers, some of whom hold important positions with international sports organisations. They will share their experience and success of women's sports with the audience."
The Conference, under the banner of "Sports: Health and Happiness", will hear speakers addressing key issues in the development of women's sport in the UAE.
Other speakers include Stefanie Schulte, who helped organise the Women's Football World Cup in Germany last year; Rosella Sensi, the former president of AS Roma; Efthalia Mitsi, a football referee; and Sheikha Naeema Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, the president of the GCC Women's Sports Organising Committee.
"Key speakers will deliver talks on how to cultivate the will to indulge in sports in individuals, maintaining women's physical and psychological health, and the role of women's associations and media in fostering an appropriate environment for female athletes to thrive in," said Dr Mouza Al Shehhi, the chief executive officer of the Sheikha Fatima bin Mubarak Sports Academy, which was established last year and a state-of-the-art facility is nearing completion. "All women's sports in Abu Dhabi will come under its umbrella.
"Initially it will be in Abu Dhabi and we hope to expand it to other parts of the country.
"We will start at the grass roots, scout talent from the schools and then provide sports scholarships."
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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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