The Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau and the Emirates Medical Association (EMA) are to promote the capital as a medical conferences hub.
The bureau, a division of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), signed the deal yesterday with the EMA and Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec). As part of the deal, Adnec expects to raise the share of medical conferences at its venues.
“This agreement is conducive to Abu Dhabi’s role as a primary destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions throughout the region,” said Saif Saeed Ghobash, the director general of TCA Abu Dhabi.
The EMA, a non-profit organisation based in Dubai, organises medical conferences, international congresses and education courses.
“In partnering with Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau and [EMA], Adnec seeks to increase the number of scientific and medical conferences to grow the direct and indirect impact from business tourism on the economy of Abu Dhabi,” said Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Adnec’s acting group chief executive. “The benefits to Abu Dhabi extend beyond economic impact as there will be an increased exposure to global thought leaders, thereby helping the emirate emerge as a knowledge hub in healthcare sector.”
An increasing number of medical conferences and meetings would mean more opportunities for Abu Dhabi to showcase its investment in health care.
Mubadala, an investment arm of the Abu Dhabi Government, has invested in state-of-the-art facilities such as Imperial College London Diabetes Centre, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, primary care and multi-speciality hospital Healthpoint and National Reference Laboratory.
The initiative with EMA will also ensure an exchange of knowledge.
“When high-profile international health-related congresses are hosted here, local practitioners get unprecedented access to the top professionals and latest developments in their field,” said Dr Mouza Al Sharhan, the EMA’s president.
Earlier this year, Adnec signed a deal with Dubai-based Index Conferences and Exhibitions to bring events such as the Children and Parents World Exhibition, Lifestyle Exhibition, Media Communication and Content World Conference and Atech World Conference and Exhibition to the city.
Last year, Adnec and Al Ain Convention Centre hosted 369 events, an increase of 13 per cent on the previous year. The events brought in 1.8 million visitors to the venues.
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Director: Eli Roth
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Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
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India: Kohli (c), Rahul, Shaw, Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, Vihari, Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Shami, Umesh, Siraj, Thakur
West Indies: Holder (c), Ambris, Bishoo, Brathwaite, Chase, Dowrich (wk), Gabriel, Hamilton, Hetmyer, Hope, Lewis, Paul, Powell, Roach, Warrican, Joseph
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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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