When writing a column, I may settle quickly on a topic, and within a few hours, it’s done, and, if I am lucky, days in advance. Sometimes, I’ll be halfway through when another, better, idea comes to mind. Only rarely, though, do two topics compete for attention right up to the wire. This week is one of those occasions.
The first topic, not surprisingly, is the British vote to leave the European Union. Like most people here, including Emirati officials with whom I have discussed it, I had thought that it would go, narrowly, the other way.
In another column six weeks ago, I noted that, although not eligible to vote, I was undecided. I eventually opted for Remain, partly because of my fears about the impact of Brexit on Ireland, where the British-ruled north and the Irish Republic in the south would need to be divided by a “hard” border, and on Scotland, which might seek another referendum on separation from the United Kingdom. What really tipped me towards Remain, however, was the rise in anti-immigrant and racist feelings fuelled by unsavoury rhetoric from some Brexit campaigners. Since the vote, those feelings have spilled into public discourse in a shocking way. It will require huge determination to put that genie back in the bottle.
The initial economic fallout is worrying, though there are new opportunities for UAE-UK relations. The political impact is mind-boggling, not just for the governing Conservatives, now engaged in choosing a new prime minister, but also for the opposition Labour Party, which has descended into civil war.
British politics is now in a process of dramatic change, with no clear outcomes in sight. With the situation changing daily, sometimes hourly, I make no predictions. There will be plenty of opportunity over the next few weeks and months, and perhaps years, to comment.
My second topic relates to the United States. We will know in November whether the revolt against Britain’s political establishment will find an echo in the presidential elections, following the insurgencies of the Sanders and Trump campaigns in the primaries. Might we need to learn to live with a president Trump, with all of his xenophobic and ignorant rabble-rousing? Quite possibly.
Today, though, I shall focus on the aftermath of the shocking murders in a gay nightclub in Orlando when a self-styled supporter of ISIL killed 49 people and injured another 53. It was a horrendous hate crime, whether or not the killer was partly motivated by internal conflict over his sexual orientation.
One might have hoped that the incident might have, finally, provoked serious thought about the need for proper gun control laws, at least to prevent the sale of semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15, similar to the weapon used by the Orlando killer and in other tragedies including that at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut. Banned in 1994, they went on sale again in 2004 when Congress, under heavy pressure from the gun lobby led by the National Rifle Association, failed to renew the legislation.
Following Orlando, however, the US Senate failed even to agree to stronger checks on the background of buyers and blocking purchases by people on the FBI’s terror watch list. This is lunacy – but testimony also to the political power wielded by the NRA with its five million members.
Instead, within a seven-day period after the Orlando shootings, a single online gun warehouse in Pennsylvania sold over 30,000 AR-15s. I wonder how many of those will surface in years to come in other mass killings.
In Britain, the narrow majority for a Brexit has thrown the UK into constitutional crisis while strengthening anti-immigrant feelings there and across Europe. In the US, politicians have responded cravenly, yet again, to a horrific incident of mass murder by failing to clamp down on gun ownership.
In Europe and the United States, as well as in the Middle East, troubling times lie ahead.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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
RESULTS
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Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
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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.”
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
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
