The UAE will be hoping to wind up their campaign in the London Paralympic Games with at least one more medal from their remaining track and field competitors.
The best hope is Mohammed Hammadi, the silver medallist in the wheelchair 200m T34 sprint, who will be in action on the final day of competition in the 100m T34 dash Saturday.
"To be realistic, Mohammed is our only hope for another medal before we round off our campaign," Mohammed Fadhel Al Hameli, the chairman of the UAE National Paralympic Committee, said.
"We have won a gold and silver so far, and anything beyond that would be really good to have before we return home. Mohammed is very confident of winning another medal. He is really pumped up. Inshallah."
Three of the UAE squad will be in action in track and field competitions on Friday.
Mohammed Al Housani and Mohammed Al Mehairi compete in the F32/33/34 discus and Mohammed Bani Hashem in the wheelchair M27-200m.
Mohammed Vahdani narrowly missed out on reaching the finals in the wheelchair T54 at 400m and 800m, finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the heats on Wednesday.
Al Housani finished seventh while his teammate Abdulaziz Al Shekaili was 12th in the F32/33/34 12 discus throw.
"Overall we are very satisfied with the performances of our athletes," Al Hameli said.
"It is very tough out there and we have seen some really outstanding performances from athletes around the world. It has also been a good experience for some of our athletes."
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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.”
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