About 43 per cent of affluent individuals in the UAE believe the Covid-19 pandemic weakened their confidence in their finances and prevented them from achieving new financial goals, according to a new survey by Standard Chartered.
Thirty-five per cent of affluent people surveyed said financial market volatility was the main cause of their diminished confidence, 30 per cent cited a fear of poor returns on investments, while 26 per cent said the complexity of developing an investment strategy was a deterrent, the British lender said.
Standard Chartered polled 15,649 emerging affluent, affluent and high-net-worth people across 12 markets, including India, China, Singapore, the UAE and the UK, between June 30 and July 26.
The total wealth of high-net-worth individuals globally rose 7.6 per cent in 2020 to about $80 trillion, driven by government stimulus measures and rising equity markets, according to Capgemini. The global number of HNWIs grew by 6.3 per cent in 2020 to surpass the 20-million mark, the global consultancy said in its World Wealth Report 2021 in June.
“The UAE affluents have become more risk averse and are actively adapting their finances to the global economic situation with eyes on global market volatility and interest rate levels,” said Owen Young, regional head of wealth management for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Standard Chartered.
“A sizeable percentage of the affluent sample in the UAE expect future returns to drop and are aligning their portfolios to this new normal.”
The UAE’s emerging affluent respondents to the survey disproportionately suffered a loss of confidence after Covid-19, with 46 per cent reporting they were less assured about their finances compared with 30 per cent of HNW individuals, the survey found.
About 88 per cent of affluent individuals in the UAE reset their life goals following the pandemic, according to Standard Chartered.
The global pandemic impacted both the investment perception and risk profiles of UAE affluents
Owen Young,
regional head of wealth management for EMEA, Standard Chartered
Forty-seven per cent set a goal to improve their health, while 39 per cent are setting aside more for their children’s future, including educational or financial support.
To meet these new goals, the UAE’s affluent need new strategies to grow their wealth. However, their current “confidence gap” has made many increasingly averse to risk, the survey found.
“A sizeable percentage of the affluent sample in the UAE expect future returns to drop and are aligning their portfolios to this new normal.”
“The global pandemic impacted both the investment perception and risk profiles of UAE affluents,” Mr Young said.
A significant proportion of the UAE’s affluent consumers are also at risk of a financial shortfall to cover their retirement, the lender said.
Thirty-one per cent of affluent people in the UAE do not currently save or invest for retirement, the survey found. Among those who do save, 50 per cent said investment income is the most common expected source of income in retirement, while 37 per cent cited cash savings and deposits.
Meanwhile, 53 per cent of UAE affluent consumers plan to retire before the age of 65, while 19 per cent have set a new financial goal in the past 18 months to retire earlier, the survey said.
Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
THREE
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
Du Plessis plans his retirement
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in two years' time will be his last.
Du Plessis, 34, who has led his country in two World T20 campaigns, in 2014 and 2016, is keen to play a third but will then step aside.
"The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I'm really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me," he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
THE%C2%A0SPECS
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