ABU DHABI // More Emiratis than citizens of any other high-income country in the Gulf say they are thriving.
Life evaluation: Key findings from Progress and Tradition in the Gulf Cooperation Council States
Last Updated: May 25, 2010
• Median GCC life evaluations (classified as “thriving”) are on par with the median (43%) for high-income countries.
United Arab Emirates: 63%
Qatar: 56%
Kuwait: 44%
Saudi Arabia: 43%
Bahrain: 27%
• Income is related to men’s life evaluations in the GCC, but not women’s life evaluations.
18% increase in life evaluations for women with higher levels of education, whereas there is no increase for men with higher levels of education.
More on the Progress and Tradition in the GCC States report
Among more than 4,000 UAE nationals surveyed, 63 per cent placed themselves in that category, compared with only 43 per cent in other nations.
"In the UAE, unique variables drive thriving: factors such as learning something new, and spiritual fulfillment," said Dalia Mogahed, director and senior analyst at the Abu Dhabi Gallup Centre, which surveyed 18,000 citizens of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Ninety five per cent of Emirati women aged 15 to 29 have at least a secondary education, the survey found. "There has been a huge surge in educational attainment in the GCC. The younger age group is much more likely to have completed a secondary education," Ms Mogahed said.
The survey's overall findings were positive but it highlighted areas for improvement. Surprisingly few Emirati men pursued higher education, the survey found.
"The trend tends to be that more women are likely to have tertiary education than men," Ms Mogahed said.
Read the Progress and Tradition in the GCC States report here
Religious tolerance was also raised as a potential challenge. In Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, citizens said they were unlikely to respect someone of a different faith, and 36 per cent of Emiratis said they would prefer not to have a non-Muslim neighbour.
Researchers pointed to the example of Egypt and Lebanon, where 79 per cent and 88 per cent of citizens respectively said they would respect people of a different faith.
"In Egypt and in Lebanon, religious diversity is something people have been living with for hundreds of years," Ms Mogahed said. "It's not a relatively new phenomenon, as it is in some Gulf countries.
"The other issue to keep in mind is that religious diversity in the Gulf also comes in most cases with cultural diversity, whereas in Lebanon and Egypt neighbours of different faiths are in many cases still similar in their cultural norms and values."
The results of the study were released yesterday in a report titled Progress and Tradition in the GCC States.
Read the Progress and Tradition in the GCC States report here
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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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