Abu Dhabi // The Emirates Foundation is changing the way it gives out money to maximise its contribution to Emirati life.
In future, the UAE's leading philanthropic institution will concentrate on three instead of six main areas: youth development, knowledge creation, and society and heritage.
Dr Peter Cleaves, the chief executive, said focusing on these areas would be the best way to achieve the goal of a better life for Emiratis. Hitherto, the foundation has awarded grants under the headings of youth development; education, science and technology; environment; social development; arts and culture; and public awareness. In addition, it funds the Tawteen Emiratisation and Takatof social volunteering programmes.
Launched in 2005, it offers financial and technical support to projects designed to improve the quality of Emirati lives.
Its money comes from annual donations and an endowment fund supported by the Abu Dhabi Government and private companies.
"The foundation cannot do everything and be all things to all people," said Dr Cleaves. "We are really focusing on Emirati society.
"So our aim is to contribute to a situation where Emirati intellectuals, scientists, researchers are world class and interacting with the world as equals."
He said the foundation hoped, "through these main themes to help fill gaps in the country's knowledge-based and research capacities, promote the culture and traditions of the nation as well as build Emirati leaderships - both individuals and institutions".
A big advantage of the change was that it would make it easier to monitor performance. "It is a lot easier to measure how all these grants are contributing to development than if we have a broader range of activities," he said.
Under the theme of youth development, the foundation will seek to improve the leadership skills of young Emiratis with the goal of their becoming future business and political leaders. It will also support projects or workshops that would integrate them in the private sector and help them develop their own businesses.
In the area of knowledge creation, the foundation will attempt to position the UAE as a leader in technological understanding and innovation by providing grants to researchers in the field of education and social affairs.
The findings of the research are meant be used to establish databases to help with policy.
Knowledge creation initiatives also include science and technology research competitions, research on Emirati youth, and education research.
Educational initiatives will seek to improve the school curriculum and develop school libraries. The foundation will also encourage parental involvement in school affairs, and that of students in extra-curricular activities.
The foundation's grants for society and heritage are intended to address family challenges, provide marriage counselling, help people with special needs and support new social organisations.
Another major goal for the foundation is to involve businesses in social projects. Since the institution was founded, 59 companies have taken part in this initiative.
From 2005 to 2007 the foundation awarded 35 grants, rising to 107 in 2008, and 177 in the first quarter of this year.
Dr Cleaves said the trend was due to increased trust in the foundation's ability to deliver.
"Once a few had applied and received the funding in a relatively efficient manner, they told their colleagues," he said.
"The trust grew and when the trust grows, response on our part grows as well.
"For example, the last time we had the arts competition, we had 44 applications. That gives us an opportunity to respond in kind.
"Also, we have built up capacity to handle the workload. We have systematic grants approval procedures and this has helped increase the number of grants. This helps a lot."
Last month, members of the Emirates Foundation helped to plant mangrove trees in Egypt as part of a UN environmental programme.
In June, the foundation announced the Family Challenges competition, in which grants of up to Dh250,000 were made available for projects that highlight the issues of neglect, physical, sexual and psychological abuse of children. The total budget for the scheme is Dh2 million (US$550,000).
Last March, it launched a Dh5m grant scheme for organisations that help people with disabilities.
@Email:hhassan@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
'Nope'
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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
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.”
Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Company%20Profile
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The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
MOTHER%20OF%20STRANGERS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
