Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen won a clear majority in the country's elections on Sunday to secure a second six-year term in office with more than half the votes cast in the first round.
Mr Van der Bellen, 78, a former leader of the Greens, has won broad popularity for staying calm during times of national crisis.
They have included the collapse of the government in 2019 and the resignation of chancellor Sebastian Kurz a year ago over corruption allegations, which he denies.
The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) was the only one in parliament to field a candidate against Mr Van der Bellen, who won a much tighter race against an FPO opponent in 2016.
Leaders from all other parties in Parliament backed the president.
The Austrian president performs a largely ceremonial role, but has sweeping powers that mean overseeing periods of transition and turbulence.
The president is the commander in chief of the army and can sack the whole government or the chancellor.
"A majority is easily said, but an absolute majority means more votes than all others combined, and one must take that very seriously," Mr Van der Bellen told national broadcaster ORF.
"I was not at all sure that it would happen but it did, and I am very pleased."
The 78-year-old incumbent received 54.6 per cent support at Sunday’s vote, above the 50 per cent mark needed to avoid a run-off.
The far-right group’s candidate, Walter Rosenkranz, came second with 19.1 per cent of the vote, according to preliminary results that don’t include mail-in ballots. Tassilo Wallentin, a conservative lawyer and columnist, and Dominik Wlazny, a physician founder of the Beer Party, each won about 8 per cent of the vote.
"Alexander Van der Bellen really managed to ensure in the first round that he will be the next president. I congratulate him on that," Mr Rosenkranz told ORF.
The president has steered Austria through its most turbulent post-World War II political period. He’s overseen the formation or dissolution of six Austrian governments since his 2016 election.
He twice swore in Sebastian Kurz as chancellor, first as Europe’s youngest leader then a second time after a secret video in Ibiza toppled Kurz’s coalition partner.
Scandals have continued to dog Austrian governments since then and Chancellor, Karl Nehammer is struggling to keep a fragile coalition together as support for his People’s Party falters.
“It would be wise for political parties to look at what’s going on abroad,” Van der Bellen said late Sunday on public broadcaster ORF, mentioning the right-wing takeover of Italy as an example. The picture changes from election to election, and while these movements are difficult to control, they can endanger democracy, he said.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Wimbledon order of play on Saturday, July 8
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Centre Court (4pm)
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Timea Bacsinszky (19)
Ernests Gulbis v Novak Djokovic (2)
Mischa Zverev (27) v Roger Federer (3)
Court 1 (4pm)
Milos Raonic (6) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (25)
Anett Kontaveit v Caroline Wozniacki (5)
Dominic Thiem (8) v Jared Donaldson
Court 2 (2.30pm)
Sorana Cirstea v Garbine Muguruza (14)
To finish: Sam Querrey (24) leads Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-5
Angelique Kerber (1) v Shelby Rogers
Sebastian Ofner v Alexander Zverev (10)
Court 3 (2.30pm)
Grigor Dimitrov (13) v Dudi Sela
Alison Riske v Coco Vandeweghe (24)
David Ferrer v Tomas Berdych (11)
Court 12 (2.30pm)
Polona Hercog v Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
Gael Monfils (15) v Adrian Mannarino
Court 18 (2.30pm)
Magdalena Rybarikova v Lesia Tsurenko
Petra Martic v Zarina Diyas
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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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