Wellbeing

Shifting gears

There's nothing better than a spin on a bicycle, which, according to Susan B Anthony, "has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world".

Rose Dakin

July 20, 2009

I would be much healthier if I didn't own a car. Bicycling used to be my favourite mode of transportation. I had a basket on the front and a rack on the back, and would do all my grocery trips and work commutes on my bike. I biked up and down the nearly vertical streets of San Francisco, in and out of alleys in Washington, DC, and the congested roads of Lucknow, India. I even shipped my bicycle to Abu Dhabi, where it has languished.

I notice there are some avid cyclists on Abu Dhabi's streets. They bravely speed down the Corniche, loop past the Emirates Palace hotel and around the Abu Dhabi Ladies' Club. A route entered on www.bikely.com that circles the city warns: "Hope you like riding in traffic... there is no other way in Abu Dhabi." The Abu Dhabi Triathlon Club has a Yahoo group with 272 members that share information on training and racing. Dubai has a few more cycling clubs, including the Dubai Roadsters and the Hot Cog Mountain Bike Club.

Each summer at about this time, from the comfort of my living room, I start to feel the vicarious thrill of competing in the Tour de France. The 3,500-kilometre race that comprises 21 stages started last week. Lance Armstrong, who won the race seven times consecutively from 1999 to 2005, is hovering in third place. This is his first "post-retirement" attempt. The rest of us should take notes: retire at 35 years old, then keep winning races in amazing comebacks.

The gruelling race started on July 5 and ends on Sunday. On a recent day of rest (one of only two) many cyclists held news conferences but Armstrong did not. He may have been resting, which would be another good lesson for the rest of us, though he may not win the race this time. His coach says he'll need a "fifth gear" to take this year's title. The cyclists Alberto Contador and Rinaldo Nocentini are ahead by a margin of seconds.

The first few foolhardy men to go on the Tour de France in 1903 rode bicycles made of heavy steel with no shock absorption and no fifth gears. No gears at all, in fact. Because it was considered such a dangerous sport at that time, only men rode the race. There is a women's version, called the Grande Boucle, or Great Loop, which started in 1984, has 14 stages and covers 1,400 kilometres. It begins on the island of Corsica and ends in Paris.

Back in 1903, only the most headstrong women rode bicycles - to make a political point as often as to reach a destination. Susan B Anthony, an American women's rights activist, said in 1896: "Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance." It's great exercise, too.

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.”

Sunday's games

All times UAE:

Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace, 4pm

Manchester City v Arsenal, 6.15pm

Everton v Watford, 8.30pm

Chelsea v Manchester United, 8.30pm

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

If you go...

Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).