When writing a column, I may settle quickly on a topic, and within a few hours, it’s done, and, if I am lucky, days in advance. Sometimes, I’ll be halfway through when another, better, idea comes to mind. Only rarely, though, do two topics compete for attention right up to the wire. This week is one of those occasions.
The first topic, not surprisingly, is the British vote to leave the European Union. Like most people here, including Emirati officials with whom I have discussed it, I had thought that it would go, narrowly, the other way.
In another column six weeks ago, I noted that, although not eligible to vote, I was undecided. I eventually opted for Remain, partly because of my fears about the impact of Brexit on Ireland, where the British-ruled north and the Irish Republic in the south would need to be divided by a “hard” border, and on Scotland, which might seek another referendum on separation from the United Kingdom. What really tipped me towards Remain, however, was the rise in anti-immigrant and racist feelings fuelled by unsavoury rhetoric from some Brexit campaigners. Since the vote, those feelings have spilled into public discourse in a shocking way. It will require huge determination to put that genie back in the bottle.
The initial economic fallout is worrying, though there are new opportunities for UAE-UK relations. The political impact is mind-boggling, not just for the governing Conservatives, now engaged in choosing a new prime minister, but also for the opposition Labour Party, which has descended into civil war.
British politics is now in a process of dramatic change, with no clear outcomes in sight. With the situation changing daily, sometimes hourly, I make no predictions. There will be plenty of opportunity over the next few weeks and months, and perhaps years, to comment.
My second topic relates to the United States. We will know in November whether the revolt against Britain’s political establishment will find an echo in the presidential elections, following the insurgencies of the Sanders and Trump campaigns in the primaries. Might we need to learn to live with a president Trump, with all of his xenophobic and ignorant rabble-rousing? Quite possibly.
Today, though, I shall focus on the aftermath of the shocking murders in a gay nightclub in Orlando when a self-styled supporter of ISIL killed 49 people and injured another 53. It was a horrendous hate crime, whether or not the killer was partly motivated by internal conflict over his sexual orientation.
One might have hoped that the incident might have, finally, provoked serious thought about the need for proper gun control laws, at least to prevent the sale of semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15, similar to the weapon used by the Orlando killer and in other tragedies including that at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut. Banned in 1994, they went on sale again in 2004 when Congress, under heavy pressure from the gun lobby led by the National Rifle Association, failed to renew the legislation.
Following Orlando, however, the US Senate failed even to agree to stronger checks on the background of buyers and blocking purchases by people on the FBI’s terror watch list. This is lunacy – but testimony also to the political power wielded by the NRA with its five million members.
Instead, within a seven-day period after the Orlando shootings, a single online gun warehouse in Pennsylvania sold over 30,000 AR-15s. I wonder how many of those will surface in years to come in other mass killings.
In Britain, the narrow majority for a Brexit has thrown the UK into constitutional crisis while strengthening anti-immigrant feelings there and across Europe. In the US, politicians have responded cravenly, yet again, to a horrific incident of mass murder by failing to clamp down on gun ownership.
In Europe and the United States, as well as in the Middle East, troubling times lie ahead.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture
RESULT
West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' )
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72')
The%20specs
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Jebel Ali results
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
2.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Shamikh, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 64,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: One Vision, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
3.30pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Gabr, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
4pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 96,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Just A Penny, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
4.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Torno Subito, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 76,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner: Untold Secret, Jose Santiago, Salem bin Ghadayer
Scoreline
Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')
Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')
Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Points Classification
1. Marcel Kittel (Germany / Quick-Step) 63
2. Arnaud Demare (France / FDJ) 38
3. Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto) 25
4. Sonny Colbrelli (Italy / Bahrain) 24
5. Mark Cavendish (Britain / Dimension Data) 22
6. Taylor Phinney (U.S. / Cannondale) 21
7. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) 20
8. Thomas Boudat (France / Direct Energie) 20
9. Stefan Kueng (Switzerland / BMC Racing) 17
10. Michael Matthews (Australia / Sunweb) 17
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.”
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
UAE rugby in numbers
5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons
700 - Dubai Hurricanes had more than 700 playing members last season between their mini and youth, men's and women's teams
Dh600,000 - Dubai Exiles' budget for pitch and court hire next season, for their rugby, netball and cricket teams
Dh1.8m - Dubai Hurricanes' overall budget for next season
Dh2.8m - Dubai Exiles’ overall budget for next season
Smart words at Make Smart Cool
Make Smart Cool is not your usual festival. Dubbed “edutainment” by organisers Najahi Events, Make Smart Cool aims to inspire its youthful target audience through a mix of interactive presentation by social media influencers and a concert finale featuring Example with DJ Wire. Here are some of the speakers sharing their inspiration and experiences on the night.
Prince Ea
With his social media videos accumulating more half a billion views, the American motivational speaker is hot on the college circuit in the US, with talks that focus on the many ways to generate passion and motivation when it comes to learning.
Khalid Al Ameri
The Emirati columnist and presenter is much loved by local youth, with writings and presentations about education, entrepreneurship and family balance. His lectures on career and personal development are sought after by the education and business sector.
Ben Ouattara
Born to an Ivorian father and German mother, the Dubai-based fitness instructor and motivational speaker is all about conquering fears and insecurities. His talk focuses on the need to gain emotional and physical fitness when facing life’s challenges. As well managing his film production company, Ouattara is one of the official ambassadors of Dubai Expo2020.
MATCH INFO
First Test at Barbados
West Indies won by 381 runs
Second Test at Antigua
West Indies won by 10 wickets
Third Test at St Lucia
February 9-13
Result
Tottenhan Hotspur 2 Roma 3
Tottenham: Winks 87', Janssen 90 1'
Roma 3
D Perotti 13' (pen), C Under 70', M Tumminello 90 2"
