Lifestyle

Joining the 21st century

Finally having high-speed internet is like leaving the dark ages behind.

Alex Ritman

May 11, 2011

The customer service guy couldn't have given us a more pitiful look if he'd tried. "Do you know the internet speed you've been on for the past three years?"

"Er no, is it a bit rubbish?"

"It's 128 kilobytes per second."

"Right, a bit rubbish then?"

"Yes."

We'd come to upgrade our internet package, not to be laughed at. But, to be fair to the chap now sniggering to himself while tapping details into his terminal, we'd known that our connection wasn't the best. We had just somehow become used to YouTube clips taking around half an hour to load up or a video download needing two overnight sessions. We didn't really think we were as behind the technology times as we actually were.

But then, just two days later, with a small box screwed to the wall by two guys with a bag of spanners and some rather pungent footwear, everything, and I mean everything changed. We had internet. And we had it screaming into our flat at a rate of eight whacking great megabytes per second and I cannot begin to describe how it felt (OK, I'll try). It was almost as though we'd previously been cloaked in darkness, talking in slow motion and banging our heads on cupboard doors, and suddenly somebody had found the light switch.

Within an instant, lovely BBC internet radio was filling the lounge, uninterrupted and free from the continual "rebuffering" or "do you want to use a lower-bandwidth service" messages that had haunted previous attempts.

I soon started downloading more music than I'd ever downloaded before (and spending a small fortune in the process), simply because an album took 20 minutes rather than 20 hours.

It was as though the end of civilisation was around the corner and I might have to start my own fallout radio station once the dust had settled. Films too, plus games, programmes, everything I could find were gobbled up. We even had two computers - two! - on the go at the same time, with us both able to send e-mails and untag ourselves from embarrassing Facebook photo albums without one of us having to disconnect first so they didn't crash. It really was amazing.

Having loudly and with animated arms described my new-found happiness to friends for some weeks now, I've discovered that most of you out there have been enjoying such internet abilities since the 18th century.

I don't mind being so technologically backward. It means I get to be all excited by things while everyone else is simmering in boredom.

But next time, when you're all lapping up some futuristic webular service, can somebody please tell me? Just so I don't get laughed at by guys in customer service.

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.”