Mesirow Financial is a financial services firm that manages US$51 billion (Dh187.32bn) for institutional clients and is based in Chicago. It recently signed an agreement with Mubadala Development, a strategic investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, to open a joint venture in the capital this year. Michael Zehfuss, a senior managing director who heads Mesirow's client management globally, talks about how the deal will change the investment landscape.
How will the new venture bring something unique to the region?
There's a hole in that there's not a viable or existing platform like this in the region. Then you take Mubadala's strength, and our track record of performing very well during numerous cycles over 21 years with a very thoughtful risk management-based approach on both currency and commodities - that package is very, very different.
What kind of advice will be offered?
The product offering is going to look very similar to what we do globally for our clients in three categories. One client type is where institutions and companies have currency and commodities exposure, and they're seeking to eliminate risk, so we just take risk out of the portfolio or operating business. The other client type has currency or commodities risk to be managed, but the client seeks active risk management. The third type would be if a client is looking for absolute return from different sources of liquid investment strategies.
So why choose the UAE's capital for the firm's first office in the Middle East?
Obviously, Abu Dhabi has very compelling growth and stability, which is hugely interesting to us but it's as much the partnership fit as anything else. For us, it all gets back to shared cultural and principle issues. Do we have a common vision with a partner to build something? Can we benefit from Mubadala's strength in the region? It's really more partnership and fit driven versus anything else.
Did Mesirow or Mubadala make the first move?
When you think about large partnerships like this, people know of one another. [Who initiated is] not integral to the process. The opportunity to build something in a different way with Mubadala, and having an eye toward building it to grow over the next 5, 10, 20 years that aligns with many of the elements of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, is just a hugely rare opportunity. We aim to do it very, very well and increase employment training in the region.
How so?
We will be targeting and developing young UAE nationals to identify key roles for them within the venture, whether it's bringing them to Chicago or bringing our people to the region to basically transport cultural skill sets into building people. So it'll be very intentional on the training side of UAE nationals. That'll be an integral part of the DNA to the venture.
With the end goal being to have them on staff?
Working as employees, absolutely, and to be licensed eventually.
* Neil Parmar
Company%20Profile
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Results:
6.30pm: Maiden | US$45,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
Winner: Tabarak, Royston Ffrench (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap | $175,000 (Turf) | 3,200m
Winner: Dubhe, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Estihdaaf, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor
8.15pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,800m
Winner: Nordic Lights, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 2 | $450,000 (D) | 1,900m
Winner: North America, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm: Handicap | $175,000 (T) | 1,200m
Winner: Mazzini, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
10pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,400m.
Winner: Mubtasim, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff
By Sean Penn
Simon & Schuster
MAIN CARD
Bantamweight 56.4kg
Abrorbek Madiminbekov v Mehdi El Jamari
Super heavyweight 94 kg
Adnan Mohammad v Mohammed Ajaraam
Lightweight 60kg
Zakaria Eljamari v Faridoon Alik Zai
Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Mahmood Amin v Taha Marrouni
Light welterweight 64.5kg
Siyovush Gulmamadov v Nouredine Samir
Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Ilyass Habibali v Haroun Baka
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
The lowdown
Bohemian Rhapsody
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
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 specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
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.
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'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Company%20profile
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Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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
