Abraaj founder Naqvi resigns from Air Arabia board

Arif Naqvi, the founder of embattled private equity firm Abraaj Group, resigned from the board of Air Arabia, Sharjah's low-cost carrier said on Sunday.

The airline, which announced the resignation in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market where its shares are traded, did not say when Mr Naqvi resigned or the reason behind his move. Air Arabia said it will nominate a replacement in the coming weeks.

Abraaj, which has filed for provisional liquidation in the Cayman Islands, owns an undisclosed stake in Air Arabia, according to the private equity company's website. At the height of the Middle East's aviation boom in 2007 and high oil prices, Abraaj had a 17 per cent stake in Air Arabia.

The carrier's present top shareholder is Sharjah Asset Management with 18.53 per cent stake, followed by Al Maha Holding with 9.2 per cent.

In June, Air Arabia said it has a $336 million (Dh1.23bn) exposure to funds managed by Abraaj, while affirming there is "no significant impact" on its business or liquidity status. The airline has appointed a team of experts to ensure its rights are being protected during the court-supervised restructure of Abraaj's funds.

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Air Arabia Q2 profit dips 24% on flat passenger numbers

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Mr Naqvi faces a new criminal case over a bounced cheque, complicating ongoing negotiations between him and a creditor to reach an out-of-court settlement over unpaid debts, his lawyer said last month.

The value of the bounced cheque is Dh798m and a hearing has been scheduled in the UAE on Tuesday, Habib Al Mulla, executive chairman of Habib Al Mulla Baker Mackenzie, told The National in July.

Air Arabia, the UAE's only publicly-listed airline, posted a 24 per cent decline in its second-quarter net profit as the number of passengers carried and seats filled remained flat.

Net profit in the three months ending June 30 reached Dh120m compared with Dh158m a year earlier despite the "economic pressure" that airlines witnessed in the second quarter of the year, driven by lower yield margins, higher fuel prices and seasonality shift in traffic, the airline said.

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

The Bio

Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village

What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft

Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans

Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface

The biog

Hobby: "It is not really a hobby but I am very curious person. I love reading and spend hours on research."

Favourite author: Malcom Gladwell

Favourite travel destination: "Antigua in the Caribbean because I have emotional attachment to it. It is where I got married."

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE

Join parent networks
Look beyond school fees
Keep an open mind

Afro%20salons

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THE BIO

Favourite author - Paulo Coelho

Favourite holiday destination - Cuba

New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field

Role model - My Grandfather

Dream interviewee - Che Guevara

The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo

Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000

Engine: 5.6-litre V8

Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm

Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.

Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.

It’s So Easy
Mr Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
Double Talkin’ Jive
Better
Estranged
Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
Shadow of Your Love
Attitude (Misfits cover)
Civil War
Coma
Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
November Rain
Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
Nightrain

Encore:

Patience
Don’t Cry
The Seeker (The Who cover)
Paradise City

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

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.”