Last week, I was in my hometown of Utica, New York. I had been invited to keynote an event at City Hall to commemorate Lebanon’s Independence Day. More than that, it was a day to recognise and celebrate the contributions that Lebanese Americans have made to the US, and to remind us how a welcoming America had done so much for waves of diverse immigrants and how they, in turn, had built this country.
From the late 19th century until the first few decades of the 20th, a flood of immigrants arrived in the US from Greater Syria (a historical region covering modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Israel). From available data, it appears that almost one quarter of a million Syrian Lebanese arrived during those four decades.
Their reasons for emigration varied. In the early period, they came seeking economic opportunities. The First World War famine imposed on the Mount of Lebanon by both the Ottoman Empire and the Allies accelerated the flight. It is estimated that during the war years, half of the population of the Mount died from hunger or disease.
After the war, many of those who were able to leave did so, with their preferred destination being the US to join family or friends who had migrated earlier. This lasted until the 1920s when a xenophobic backlash against some immigrants led Congress to either limit or eliminate visas for certain groups – among them, the Syrian Lebanese. For about 30 years, no new US visas were issued.
The Syrian Lebanese immigrants took advantage of the opportunities provided by their new home and prospered, growing their families and their businesses.
My family’s story was part of this unfolding narrative. My father’s older brother, Habib, left Lebanon in 1910 at the age of 14. His goal was to prepare the ground for others to follow. The war and famine intervened. Escaping famine and ruin they fled to the Bekaa Valley until the war’s end when they returned to their village. It took them until the early 1920s before they were able to join Habib. In 1921, except for my father, they did so.
Encountering the anti-Syrian visa restrictions, my father eager to join his family secured a job and passage to Canada. After arriving, he illegally crossed the border into the US and found his way to Utica where he was reunited with his mother and siblings in 1923.
Like so many other Lebanese and Arab immigrants who followed, my father and his brothers and sisters set themselves on a path to succeed in their new homeland.
By the time they had passed, they had founded seven businesses, and their children and grandchildren launched many more or became professionals.
Like so many other Lebanese and Arab World immigrants who followed, my father, his brothers and sisters set themselves on a path to succeed in their new homeland
The overall Syrian-Lebanese community in Utica grew to become more than 6 per cent of the city’s population, playing a significant role in all aspects of the community. When I was growing up, it seemed like every street corner had a small store owned by members of my ethnicity. They also built three churches, were elected to public office and excelled in several professions, serving in education, law, politics and medicine.
It is delightful to see the extent to which this pattern of Arabic-speaking immigrants seeking opportunity and building success in America is continuing with Utica’s newer immigrants from Arab countries: Palestinians, Yemenis, Iraqis and more. It is the American story that, despite setbacks and bumps in the road, continues to inspire.
My father, who came undocumented in the 1920s, got amnesty in the 1930s and became a naturalised US citizen in 1943. His naturalisation document hangs on the wall in my office underneath the presidential parchment from former US president Barack Obama announcing his appointment of me to serve as his representative to the Commission on International Religious Freedom. I call it “My American Story Wall”.
A century ago, Kahlil Gibran penned a “Letter to Young Americans of Syrian Origin”. In it, he reminds his readers of both the values they brought with them from their lands of origin and the possibilities available in their new homeland. Towards the end of this letter, Gibran urges his readers “to stand before the towers of New York and Washington, Chicago and San Francisco saying in your hearts ‘I am the descendant of a people that built Damascus and Byblos, and Tyre, Sidon, and Antioch and I am here to build with you’”.
This is exactly what we did. It is the immigrant story, repeated every day, by diverse waves of immigrants in cities across the country. It is what makes America great.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”