Describe your financial journey so far.
When I look back I think there have been a few roller coaster moments but I have been lucky there’s been nothing drastic. I come from a poor family and learnt very early on to look for joys that did not involve money.
Are you a spender or saver?
I’m slightly more of a saver than I am a spender. I save when I can and spend when I can, but try not to get too stressed about it. I am a mother of five so there are things that I have to spend on whether I like it or not, and things I have to save for whether I like it or not.
What is your philosophy towards money?
Spending less keeps me a little grounded to what I think really matters most. I love expensive shoes and being able to travel, but I don’t need 50 pairs of shoes. I also think living more frugally as a parent teaches children there are joys in life even without much money. This generation and certainly in this part of the world, there’s a lot more affluence and that’s a challenge as a parent – how to keep those values. Money solves a lot of short-term problems but doesn’t deal with the big stuff. I had a serious health diagnosis a few years ago, and the last thing I thought about was my bank balance. The only thing that was on my mind was the people I loved. We spend so much time worrying about how much stuff we have or don’t have and so much energy chasing that stuff, yet when all is said and done, and you are faced with your own mortality – money is the last thing you think about.
Have you made any financial mistakes along the way?
When you start your career you spend too much, you don’t value the amount of work it took to earn that living. Money appears to buy choice and freedom. The lesson I learnt, however, as in what really makes me happy, was worth the price I had to pay for it. Those lessons remain with me today. The bigger villa, the newer car, the outfit I just had to have – didn’t change me or necessarily make me any happier. That happiness came from within.
If you won Dh1 million, what would you do with it?
I want to say I’d buy an island, boat or never work a day in my life. But I like people around me, so the island idea is out of the question. I can’t imagine not getting up every day and not liking what I love. Getting Dh1m would cause more stress for me than the happiness I’d be perceived to be getting from it.
What has been your biggest financial lesson?
When life throws you a curveball or something out of the blue that you are not prepared for, no amount of money for example can deal with cancer, or world hunger. That was my biggest lesson as I was growing up – how to live without striving to get that money because it won’t fix anything. I learnt that lesson quite young, in my 20s. You can plan for today and save for tomorrow, but even the best laid plans can go out the window in a heartbeat.
What do you enjoy spending money on?
I like spending money on things I can’t hold in my hand, but certainly hold in my heart. My real joy is spending money on experiences, travelling to new places, eating wonderful food, and seeing my children happy. If you saw where I live, I don’t have a seven-bedroom villa. We have nice things, we are comfortable, but not that type of big affluence.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
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.”
Honeymoonish
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BRAZIL%20SQUAD
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A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
