Dubai // Schools were happy to collect prizes totalling Dh360,000 in the inaugural Commercial Bank of Dubai Youth Athletics Championships, but instructors said money was not their main motivation.
The event was launched by the Dubai Sports Council with an investment of Dh1 million from the bank. More than a third of those funds went to the winning schools.
"I don't think it is really about the money," said Andreas Bertram, a physical education instructor at The German International School, which carried off the biggest prize cheque of Dh90,000.
"The most important thing is organising such events. We need more and more athletic events, maybe every second or third week."
Competitions at the Dubai Police Stadium were held in three categories for boys - Under-12, Under-15 and Under-17 - and one for girls. Schools topping each category received Dh40,000, while the runners-up and third-placed team got Dh30,000 and Dh20,000, respectively.
The German School won the girls division, and finished second in the boys' Under-15 and third in the boys' Under-12.
"Dubai is a multicultural city, an international melting pot, which you don't have in Germany. So it is very easy to get everybody involved, just on the weekends," Bertram said.
"It's amazing and they should do more such events open to schools of all nationalities. That's what happens at the Olympics and World Cups. It's a good feeling to see how children of other nationalities are doing."
Bertram has been impressed with the sports facilities in the country, but feels they are not being utilised properly through regular competition.
"The idea is really good because such events are necessary," he said. "Dubai has a lot of sports facilities, but they don't really use them. So this is a good start and hopefully they will continue in this way with more schools.
"Maybe they should hold this event two or even three times a year so that the students can continue to train."
Richard Vivian, a PE teacher at Jumeirah College, said facilities in the city could compensate for a lack of resources at many schools.
"The biggest struggle is every school has a pool, whereas not every school has an athletics track or the options to compete in a facility," he said. "It's tough.
"We are fortunate we are having our sports day at the Al Wasl Club. The Dubai Sports Council has been brilliant and is helping us set that up. Without that goodwill, we wouldn't be having that."
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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
RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
UAE%20Warriors%2045%20Results
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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.”