One- and two-bedroom apartments are available in the North and South Residences. Courtesy Seven Tides
One- and two-bedroom apartments are available in the North and South Residences. Courtesy Seven Tides

Nine-month deferred payment offer for Anantara Residences Palm Jumeirah



The Dubai developer Seven Tides is offering a deferred payment plan for investors at its luxury Anantara Residences Palm Jumeirah as residential property market in Dubai shows signs of a slowdown.

According to the nine-month plan, investors need to pay at least 20 per cent of the total unit price with the balance due after nine months of the purchase. The buyers will get immediate possession of the unit and the developer will cover service charges for the period.

After nine months, the buyer can resell the property after fully paying for it, or enter Anantara’s rental programme. The resort is located in the same complex and 180 apartments and seven penthouses are yet to come to the market.

The scheme is available for one- and two-bedroom apartments in the North and South Residences.

“This targets the smaller independent investor who may have the capital to secure a property, but need more time to fund an outright purchase,” said Abdulla Bin Sulayem, the chief executive of Seven Tides. Sales volumes in the Dubai residential market are down and average sale prices grew by 6 per cent in the second quarter compared to 10 per cent in the previous, according to consultants JLL in its second quarter report.

Last year, Seven Tides put on sale 170 apartments covering three floors and had sold 80 per cent of the units.

Two more floors featuring 64 units were released to the market in February. The complex has 442 apartments and 14 penthouses on eight floors.

The entry price of the Anantara apartments is Dh2.6 million, and more than 90 per cent of the investors were cash buyers, Mr bin Sulayem said in a January interview, similar to the trend at other freehold properties.

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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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Based: Bangalore, India

Sector: Health & wellness

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Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain

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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.