As noted in my first and second columns for this three-part series, my wife and I are raising our son as co-parents, which in this context means a split down the middle when it comes to child-rearing responsibilities. In order to do so effectively, I chose to leave my job as a partner in a professional firm and work from home as an independent adviser. Even so, I’ve found it’s not as easy to achieve work-life balance, a term I find rather unhelpful; it almost feels like we’re being set up to fail.
The idyllic image of coming (or working from) home, professionally satisfied, full of energy and ready to spend dedicated and enjoyable time with your children is something of a dream. Fair play to all parents who have achieved such a balance, but for me it feels like chasing down a unicorn is more likely.
Trying to solve an immediate parenting issue while thinking through and preparing solutions for a professional problem is an emotional roller coaster
In my experience, tension is perhaps a more apt description, as both competing forces pull you in opposite directions. Case in point, my two-and-a-half-year-old son recently locked himself in the bedroom, half an hour before I had to give an important presentation. He managed to lock his bedroom door from the inside and could not work out how to unlock it.
It was a surreal experience, where something so seemingly trivial became an emergency in seconds. The spare key was nowhere to be found and my efforts to break the door down only resulted in a bruised shoulder (and ego). For the first time in my life I couldn’t get to my son. Stress built as I tried to calmly encourage him to keep trying with the lock, despite his complete refusal. Meanwhile, my wife, white as a ghost, ransacked the house in search of the key.
We eventually called security and the police arrived to break down the door within 10 minutes. Fortunately, and embarrassingly, we found the key just as the police arrived and let our son out. The house was a complete mess, my wife still needed comforting and I had all of two minutes left to prepare for my presentation. The only person not stressed was my son, who casually waved goodbye to the police and moved on to his next escapade.
Companies have become increasingly tolerant of personal (parenting) issues seeping into professional life, but you worry about overstepping the mark
The scene I paint may be a one-off situation, but the emotional roller coaster of trying to solve an immediate parenting issue while thinking through and preparing solutions for a professional problem is a common one. On a more regular basis, nap time can be equally challenging. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to calmly will my son to sleep, my methods become increasingly desperate, as I frantically watch the minutes disappear on my phone and feel the dread of the impending Zoom meeting moving inexorably closer.
One of the hardest things I’ve found in placating this tension is when starting a new job or taking on a new project. Typically, in my pre-parent era, I would dedicate my whole being to working around the clock to make the best first impression. I would stay up late to read around the subject. I would put my hand up for everything and make myself available for every meeting. Today, this is simply not possible. My working day is shared with parenting. And if you find me awake beyond 10pm, it’s a caffeinated miracle.
I feel like I enter any job as half the professional I used to be. For the first time in my life, I have been given an insight into what working mums have gone through for decades, and it is unbelievably difficult.
Companies have become increasingly tolerant of personal (parenting) issues seeping into professional life, but you worry about overstepping the mark and not establishing the wrong impression. Do I ask them to move a meeting because my wife isn’t home as planned and I’m stuck with my son building the world’s tallest block tower? Or do I lie and give them a different reason?
Personally, I’ve chosen to be transparent (not specifically about the block tower, of course). I don’t cover up who I am. I am a parent at home and at work. I am balancing two worlds and sometimes they clash. I don’t make excuses, even if sometimes I might need a bit more time to finish the work or I’m not available for a particular meeting. I’m fortunate that, as a strategist, rushing the delivery of creative thinking is not a prerequisite for a quality outcome.
However, this does not mean tension cannot be a force for good. It has its own energy that drives me to excel both personally and professionally. I may never reach a state of perfect equilibrium, but my life will hopefully make up a rich tapestry of moments where I felt grounded and present as both a parent and a working professional.
I have no idea how long I’ll be able to maintain this status quo, but I feel privileged that, despite the sheer exhaustion of co-parenting, I currently see life and work as a positive tension getting the best out of me. I hope others can, too.
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
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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.”
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
