2011
January 25 - Anti-government protests begin across Egypt following the January 14 overthrow of Tunisia's president.
January 28 - Mubarak orders troops and tanks into cities to quell demonstrations.
January 31 - New government is sworn in with former air force commander Ahmed Shafiq as prime minister.
February 4 - Thousands gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square in a "Day of Departure" to press Mubarak to go.
February 10 - Mubarak transfers powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman.
February 11 - Mubarak steps down and a military council led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi takes over.
March 19 - Egyptians approve amendments to the constitution that pave way for parliamentary and presidential elections.
April 8 - Thousands protest in Tahrir Square against delays in putting Mubarak on trial.
August 3 - Mubarak trial opens.
October 9-10 - Coptic Christians turn their fury on the army after at least 25 Christians are killed when troops break up a protest.
November 22 - Tantawi promises that a civilian president will be elected in June 2012, six months sooner than planned.
November 25 - Thousands demanding an end to military rule pack Tahrir Square in the biggest turnout of a week of protests in which 42 people were killed.
November 28 - First voting in parliamentary election.
2012
January 3-4 - Final round of legislative election. Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party take more than two fifths of the seats, followed by an ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamist party with more than a fifth.
January 16 - Egypt says it has asked the IMF for US$3.2 billion to help fill a budget gap widened by almost a year of turmoil.
January 23 - New parliament holds its first session.
April 17 - Ten candidates disqualified from the presidential race.
May 23 and 24 - First round of presidential election.
May 28 - Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, and Ahmed Shafiq declared the run-off candidates.
June 2 - Mubarak is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killing of protesters.
June 13 - Egypt issues a decree allowing military police to detain civilians, a move critics say is a barely disguised bid to reinstate decades-old emergency law that expired on May 31.
June 14 - Supreme court rules to dissolve parliament, just two days before the run-off presidential election. Court also dismissed move to bar Shafiq from contesting election.
June 16-17 - Second round of voting for president.
June 24 - Morsi declared winner of presidential run-off.
*Reuters
Prophets of Rage
(Fantasy Records)
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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