DUBAI // Young people have handed out food packages to scrap collectors and municipality staff at a landfill site in Dubai.
Members of the youth environment group SynergY distributed 250 packages to labourers in Al Qusais on Sunday evening.
“It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action,” said Simran Vedvyas, founder of SynergY.
“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference in a world where there is so much to be done.
“I felt strongly that there is something for me to do, and I feel fortunate leading SynergY.”
The iftar meals given out included biryani, biscuits, cereal, tea, laban and water, and were part of the group’s Convoy to Feed 2014 campaign aiming to reach more than 500 workers during Ramadan.
SynergY received support from Dubai Municipality’s waste management department, Choithrams supermarket chain, Shrey Sahej the uniform makers and Cosmo Advertising.
The initiative was welcomed by Sadin Al Falasi, head of the department’s treatment systems unit, and other senior municipality officials who attended the distribution of the food.
“I chose Dubai Municipality landfill sites because we planted several trees in the past at some of the landfills in UAE, and understood how much hard work these people do for us,” said Ms Vedvyas.
“This was our way to express gratitude and share time with them during the holy month of Ramadan.”
Ramadan is a time when people can change their habits, particularly those leading to overeating, which can help to reduce food waste, she said.
A Convoy of Goodness campaign organised by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has distributed more than 5,000 Ramadan Forum bags.
The event was part of the 13th Ramadan Forum, and volunteers handed out a variety of educational material including references to the Quran as well as Ramadan Forum booklets.
The bags were distributed by 18 volunteers in different areas of Dubai and Sharjah such as government departments, hospitals and markets.
Promotional banners about the forum’s work were placed at and around various mosques.
Organised by DTCM, the Ramadan Forum brings together speakers and experts to provide lectures and talks on a host of social issues.
The forum will run until July 14, at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
For more details about the charitable work by SynergY, visit its page at facebook.com/CosmoFoundationYouth.
nhanif@thenational.ae
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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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