The sales
• There’s the shopping, of course, with discounts of up to 75 per cent across 3,000 shops on everything imaginable, from gold, perfume, haute-couture fashion brands and electronics to handicrafts and textiles.
The prizes
• There are chances to win all kinds of prizes, from cars and cash to solid gold. Spend Dh200 at any of the participating retailers and enter a draw to win up to Dh1 million in prizes.
The entertainment
• The Welsh National Opera, under the baton of the Chinese conductor Xian Zhang, will make its Dubai debut on Thursday, the first day of the festival. They will perform Kahayla, a large orchestral work by British composer Joanna Marsh that was inspired by the building of the Burj Khalifa, in an open-air concert at Zabeel Park.
•Guest artists: the Indian sarod player Amjad Ali Khan and the Filipino pianist Cecile Licad.
• Every weekend, Dubai Media City Amphitheatre will play host to some of the Arab world’s biggest names in music. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening, two stars will take to the stage and each star is scheduled to perform twice throughout the month. Look out for names such as Elissa, Nancy Ajram, Amr Diab, Assi El Helani, Najwa Karam, Ahlam, Hussain Al Jasmi, Mohammed Abdo, Majed Al Mohandes and more.
•The Indian playback singer Arijit Singh, best known for his song Tum Hi Ho in Aashiqui 2, will perform with a 50-piece symphony orchestra on January 15 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
• A Bollywood concert featuring singer Sonu Nigam, along with his 50-member troupe of co-singers, musicians and artists, will perform a four-hour Bollywood musical extravaganza on January 16 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
• Abbati, a show featuring abayas and traditional wear, will be held at the Armani hotel on January 19 and 20, following an exhibition from January 14 to 16. Abbati puts the spotlight on regional and local trends, as showcased by prominent home-grown talents.
• The world premiere of Smurfs Live on Stage will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from January 16 to 19. Each show is 90 minutes long and perfect for families with young children.
• Mamma Mia! is a smash-hit musical seen by more than 54 million people in 39 productions and 14 different languages. From January 2 to 10, it will be at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The award-winning show is the ninth longest-running musical on Broadway.
• Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo will perform Romeo et Juliette, choreographed by Jean-Christoph Maillot and featuring 40 dancers, from January 15 to 17 at Madinat Jumeirah.
• Attend the Dubai International Kite Fest from January 29 to 31, where an attempt will be made to break the Guinness World Record for the most kites flown simultaneously. The bid for the record will be made on the last day.
• Visit www.mydsf.ae for a full calendar of events.
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.”
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
