DUBAI // The desires of the European Tour golfers played a part in the decision to bring the season-ending tournament back to Dubai for at least two more years, George O’Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour, said yesterday.
A straw poll of the 58 players here this week for the Dubai World Championship told him that they wanted the finale to remain where it has been since the Race to Dubai was first held in 2009.
The tournament name will be changed to the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, and the prize fund will increase to US$8 million (Dh29.3m) from $7.5m.
The winner’s cheque will increase from $1.25m to $1.33m.
The venue – the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates – will stay the same because of its popularity among the professionals on tour.
“If you speak to the players as I certainly have done this week, 58 of them to be exact, they are all unanimous on one thing; they want the last tournament of the European Tour to remain in Dubai,” O’Grady said.
“The players knew about this announcement, because I told them, and they are delighted.”
Lee Westwood this week described the course as "perfect" while Rory McIlroy, Peter Hanson and Luke Donald, the Race to Dubai winner, have all praised the tournament set-up this week.
The championship will continue to have a field of the top 60 European Tour players, although that may change after next year, O’Grady said.
There has been speculation that the $7.5m bonus pool, which is divided among the top 15 players in the final Race to Dubai rankings, would be scrapped.
However, O’Grady said yesterday that it would remain for next year, although he would not say whether the amount would stay the same.
“We will be $8m in prize money next year and it might be that figure stays all the way through,” he said.
“I think everyone is well aware of the world situation and I think holding on to that purse, with an extra bonus pool still be announced, is quite frankly a tremendous achievement.”
O’Grady said other venues had expressed interest in hosting the European Tour finale, but there was never a question of Dubai losing the tournament for the foreseeable future.
He also said he believes the European Tour has never been stronger. Three of its members won majors this year – Charl Schwartzel (the Masters), McIlroy (US Open) and Darren Clarke (British Open) – and Donald has emerged as the world No 1.
“We had a wonderful situation on Thursday when the world numbers one and two [Donald and McIlroy] were teeing off in the final grouping here in Dubai,” O’Grady said. “That gives everyone an enormous amount of confidence.
"I read a lot of articles saying that 2010 was the most successful year in European Tour history, but 2011 trumps it because we still have the Ryder Cup and have the Masters Green Jacket, US Open trophy and Claret Jug from the British Open."
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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.”
Company%20Profile
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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
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
FIGHT%20CARD
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Where to submit a sample
Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
