DUBAI // Feryal Sharif has seen a lot of changes in her country over the decades.
In Dubai, towers have emerged from the sand, connected by a sprawling road network. In Abu Dhabi, a sleepy capital was transformed into the centre of white-collar industry.
But her business, Video Hi-Fi, has seen big changes of its own. The emirate's oldest movie-rental store witnessed the boom of analogue media and is now suffering in the aftermath of the digital revolution.
"The original store was in Safa Park and business was booming back in the 80s," Ms Sharif, an Emirati of Iranian descent, said as she sat outside the store at the Park N Save strip mall on Al Wasl Road. "Channel 33 was the only English-language channel on TV. There were three of four shabby cinemas in Dubai back then that played old movies, and no one had heard of satellite television.
"I had hundreds of customers, eight employees and four stores located in different parts of Dubai."
In those days, Ms Sharif was building up a sizeable bank balance with her business, and even bought herself a Mercedes Benz.
When satellite television arrived in the late 1990s, she said, business was not really affected. When more cinemas opened, she noticed little difference. Even the advent of widespread internet access didn't change her bottom line much, she said.
But now, with legal media download sites like iTunes, illegal pirating sites and bootleg sales, Ms Sharif says times are tough.
"Yes, I lost some business when satellite TV arrived," she said. "But not like I am losing now. When high-speed internet service and downloads began seven years ago, that's when things began to get bad. I lost most of my 14 to 22-year-old customers. Then I lost their parents, because the kids were telling their parents, 'Why rent when you can download?'"
She said she was most frustrated with the bootleg DVD vendors who sell films for as little as Dh10.
"I complained to the Media Council about the women who show up at people's doorsteps with suitcases filled with hundreds of movies. The council said it was a widespread problem and that they were doing the best they could. What can I do? Now I can barely pay the bills," said Ms Sharif, who long ago sold her Mercedes for a more economical car.
She has thought of closing shop and moving on, but said she is held back by a thorny issue: she is responsible for nearly a quarter of a million dirhams' worth of customer deposits.
"I have hundreds of customers who over the years paid a Dh150 deposit each," she said. "If I shut down, I will have to pay each and every one of them their deposit back. That would be around Dh200,000 to Dh250,000 I would have to come up with. I cannot afford to do that all at once. So I carry on, just happy to pay the bills. I used to be a wealthy woman because of this business, but not anymore."
Now Ms Sharif sits outside her only remaining store with her companion, Muddles, a cat that followed her into the store one day. "Muddles lives here in the store," she said. "All my customers know her."
Mahesh Kanchan, 34, and Pramod Salian, 30, both from India, are Video Hi-Fi's only remaining employees. They both are worried that they may soon be out of work. "Sales and rentals have dropped by more than 50 per cent," Mr Kanchan said. "And what's also killing the business is that so many people rent movies and don't return them. Yes, we are very worried about our jobs."
Janet Baker, a housewife from the UK, has been a customer since 1997, and said she had resisted the trends threatening the store.
"I don't feel honourable buying pirated movies or downloading movies illegally from the internet," she said. "It's immoral. I like to support the local businesses here."
Ms Sharif wishes everyone would think the same way.
ealghalib@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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: 1.6-litre turbo
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp
Torque: 240Nm
Price: From Dh89,000 (Enjoy), Dh99,900 (Innovation)
On sale: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%204cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E261hp%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E400Nm%20at%201%2C750-4%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10.5L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C999%20(VX%20Luxury)%3B%20from%20Dh149%2C999%20(VX%20Black%20Gold)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
No%20Windmills%20in%20Basra
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Diaa%20Jubaili%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20180%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%20Deep%20Vellum%20Publishing%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
PETER%20PAN%20%26%20WENDY
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDavid%20Lowery%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alexander%20Molony%2C%20Ever%20Anderson%2C%20Joshua%20Pickering%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A