SHARJAH // One week ago, Abdullah Rashid Al Naqbi was in desperate need of life-saving surgery he could not afford.
The 54-year-old Emirati policeman suffered from a bowel condition and the necessary operation cost Dh50,000.
But he is now on the road to recovery at University Hospital thanks to a decree from the Ruler of Sharjah, Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed, offering free medical tests and treatments to all nationals in the Emirate.
Mr Al Naqbi is one of 4,000 Emiratis who have visited the hospital in the last month. About 10,000 check-ups and 100 surgeries, at a cost of Dh5 million, were carried out in October alone.
The free treatments will be available for an unspecified period.
"If God enables someone to save your life you should be grateful to God and that person," Mr Al Naqbi said. "For we Emiratis, we can't lose hope in anything before our Rulers, who have become our parents, know about it.
"Sheikh Sultan would always be willing to give anyone a helping hand at any critical hour of need and we pray that God adds this generous practice to his scale of good deeds on the day of judgment."
Prof Hossam Hamdy, vice chancellor for the University of Sharjah's medical and health college and chairman of the department of surgeons, carried out Mr Al Naqbi's surgery.
"The intestines were out of place, just covered by the skin. We had to push them back in the operation," he said. "We had to do a complete repair of the abdominal wall using a new synthetic mesh to give support and re-enforcement of the weak muscles on the interior wall of his abdomen.
"The operation took about five hours and we kept him in intensive care for two days to be sure he did not develop any respiratory problems after the operation."
Dr Amr Abdul Hamid, the Ruler's adviser for higher education, said Emiratis were now entitled to a full medical check-up for high risk conditions such as cardiovascular disease, breast cancer or prostate cancer. The offer is open only to nationals living in Sharjah.
The Thiqa health insurance scheme covers Emiratis but often does not include complicated procedures.
Prof Hamdy said the initiative was a chance to collect data about the major diseases affecting Emiratis, which could be used to guide the planning and strategic direction of future health projects in Sharjah.
Patients travelled to the hospital from as far as Al Dhaid for the free check-ups. One woman, Hessa Al Suwaidi, took her eight-year-old daughter Mezzna for treatment.
"She was born with some eye problem, her eyes were red," she said. "The doctors have examined her and agreed the problem can be fixed. For my second daughter, I just want to do medical check-ups to ensure she is fine."
Emiratis can make an appointment with doctors at University Hospital by calling 06 505 8588.
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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.”
