Money&Me: From queuing for bread to making it big

Describe your financial journey so far.

Everything started when I emigrated from Poland in 1979 at the age of 23 to look for a better life. I didn't speak English, only had US$7 (Dh25.71 at today's rate) in my pocket and left behind a young family in Poland - my son was only 18 months at the time. The challenge was to learn a new language and get a job because the $7 only lasted a day. So I separated myself from the Polish language completely and got a job as a truck driver. I persuaded this gentleman to give me the job by telling him I would work for free. Within three days I was on the payroll; that was a great beginning.

How did you end up in the hospitality industry?

I used to be a member of the national showjumping team in Poland. When I participated in the world championships in Kiev in 1975, I had an accident and pulled out of the sport for a year-and-a-half. I worked as an instructor, but decided to also look for another career so I did a two-year apprenticeship at the first western hotel to set up in Warsaw. As it was, when I left Poland, where my sports career was entirely paid for by the state, I discovered what an expensive sport it is. Buying my own horses, keeping and training them was beyond my capabilities in Australia. But once my language was good enough, I went back into the hospitality business, working as a room-service attendant in a hotel in Perth and then as restaurant manager. Later, I was fortunate to meet an Italian man who was the owner of various restaurants and gave me everything I needed to take my career more seriously. He allowed me to bring my family from Europe. They arrived in 1983, four years after I'd left.

What is your philosophy towards money?

I come from a poor background, but I've always managed to have money in my pocket. It hasn't done me any good, though, because it has made me hungry for it. Those moments when I don't have any money, I feel powerless. When I went to a new country and left all the money behind for my family, it was very strange. It's been a rocky journey, but I've learnt to respect the dollar.

Are you a spender or a saver?

At this stage in my life, I'm more into saving. I always say you work to live, but you don't live to work because life is too precious to waste it. But at 56, I think it's important to create wealth behind me and not depend on others. The last 10 years allowed me to be introduced to that philosophy. But for most of my life, I was probably a bit flamboyant.

Have you ever experienced any financial difficulties?

Yes, twice. The first time, in the 1980s, I lost everything on the stock market. I was doing extremely well for three years and was silly enough to not build any security behind it. You could call it greed. I was trying to convert all the money into more money and one day I woke up and didn't have a roof over my head and somebody came to collect my car. The stress was too much for my wife and she left me, so I packed my cases and started again by going off to work on cruise ships for six years. Then in 1996, there was another stupid thing with the stock market. It did not wipe me out totally, but I felt the pain.

What do you spend money on?

I like the fine things in life. My fiancée needs a new watch and I've already committed to not spending anything less than Dh10,000. I'm against buying fakes - I'd rather wait, save enough and, when I'm ready, buy something good. My latest purchase was a beautiful espresso machine. Because I love nice coffee, I didn't mind spending Dh5,000. It took me three months to find the right one.

Has your spending changed since moving to Dubai?

It's such a hard thing when you live in such a beautiful place with everyone spending so much money. I have tried to put as much as a regime on my personal spending as I can, but having a fiancée who is 23 years younger is not easy. She needs to live a normal life, too.

Is money important to you?

Absolutely, yes. I come from a poor background, with my parents earning $30 a month from the state and queuing for five hours for a loaf of bread. When you grow up in such an environment, money is a big part of that. But I think it's about keeping the balance. I would be so rich if I'd kept all the money to myself, but I would probably be miserable. My son is much wiser than me when it comes to money. He is an IT project manager in Australia and owns five properties. I think he learnt from my rocky past.

England Test squad

Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.

The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible

Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465

Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km

Transgender report

Exclusive: Trans Emiratis fight for recognition of new gender after reassignment surgery abroad

'I pretend I'm dumb so they can't hear my voice': Transgender Emirati on posing as a woman for work

The biog

Name: Marie Byrne

Nationality: Irish

Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption

Book: Seagull by Jonathan Livingston

Life lesson: A person is not old until regret takes the place of their dreams

MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

Match on BeIN Sports

TOUR DE FRANCE INFO

Dates: July 1-23
Distance: 3,540km
Stages: 21
Number of teams: 22
Number of riders: 198

UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed

Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match

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.”

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

RESULT

Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2
Huddersfield: Otamendi (45' 1 og), van La Parra (red card 90' 6)
Man City: Agüero (47' pen), Sterling (84')

Man of the match: Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town)

Dubai Rugby Sevens

November 30, December 1-2
International Vets
Christina Noble Children’s Foundation fixtures

Thursday, November 30:

10.20am, Pitch 3, v 100 World Legends Project
1.20pm, Pitch 4, v Malta Marauders

Friday, December 1:

9am, Pitch 4, v SBA Pirates

FINAL SCORES

Fujairah 130 for 8 in 20 overs

(Sandy Sandeep 29, Hamdan Tahir 26 no, Umair Ali 2-15)

Sharjah 131 for 8 in 19.3 overs

(Kashif Daud 51, Umair Ali 20, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Sabir Rao 2-26)

Newcastle United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Tottenham (Alli 61'), Davies (70')
Red card Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle)

FIXTURES

All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT)

Tuesday
Mairobr v Liverpool
Spartak Moscow v Sevilla
Feyenoord v Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City v Napoli
Monaco v Besiktas
RB Leipzig v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur

Wednesday
Benfica v Manchester United
CSKA Moscow v Basel
Bayern Munich v Celtic
Anderlecht v Paris Saint-Germain
Qarabag v Atletico Madrid
Chelsea v Roma
Barcelona v Olympiakos
Juventus v Sporting Lisbon

Europe’s rearming plan

Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital