FNC member from UAQ is one its most outspoken members

ABU DHABI // With a push from Umm Al Quwain residents, Dr Sheikha Al Ari made it to the FNC, swiftly becoming one of its most outspoken members.

From the first session in 2011, Dr Al Ari competed with three other FNC members to become the council’s second deputy speaker. Although unsuccessful, she set the tone to her term making it clear she was not afraid of a challenge.

Coming from an educational background, Dr Al Ari has sat in the council’s Education, Media and Youth committee for the past three years.

Since 2012, she has regularly made trips across the country with other committee members to study hurdles faced by the UAE education system.

Although some of the visits - including one to UAE University to check on research spending - ended with parades of achievement instead of information, Dr Al Ari did not shy away from stating so, insisting obtaining the facts she sought.

“There were certain things that we wanted. They do a big show of their achievements but we don’t want that,” Dr Al Ari following a visit to UAE University in 2012. “We heard that some studies were not done because they did not have enough money.”

In the council, Dr Al Ari asked the Minister of Education, Humaid Al Qattami, to change school hours in winter to reduce the number of traffic accidents.

She said children left their homes as early as 6am to reach school for a 7am start, meaning that in winter most of the journey takes place in darkness.

Outspoken about the problems in the health sector in the Northern Emirates, Dr Al Ari also sits on the Health, Labour and Social Affairs committee.

In 2012, she first spoke of the staff shortage and a lack of equipment.

She said Umm Al Qaiwain Hospital’s maternity ward, the only one in the emirate at the time, was closed for maintenance for several months in 2010.

The following year, she quizzed the Minister of Health, Dr Abdulrahman Al Owais, for UAE figures for medical malpractice.

The minister said errors were made in fewer than 1 per cent of cases, but admitted that might be because there is no unified complaints system. He said the higher medical liability board was being streamlined to address that.

Dr Al Ari told the minister that “people want to know they are in safe hands” and to look into the issue.

This year, before the council went on parliamentary break, Dr Al Ari made another plea to the Minister of Heath to improve health care services in the North.

osalem@thenational.ae

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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.”

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: Fenyr SuperSport

Price, base: Dh5.1 million

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm

Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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