DUBAI // A woman has shed 28kg in weight in just 12 months as part of her company’s long-term plan to improve the health of its employees.
Mother of five Clare Hartnett, who works for Dubai Holding on the Dubai Design District project as director of shared services, celebrated her 50th birthday last year and wanted to change her lifestyle to lose weight and quit smoking.
Although not quite ready for Friday’s Vertical Marathon, an annual event in which participants scale 52 floors and 1,334 steps of Jumeirah Emirates Towers, she is determined to take part next year.
“We were not focused on wellness when I started at Dubai Holdings 15 years ago, so it has evolved over time,” she said.
“I was a big smoker, a pack a day without fail, for 26 years. When I decided to quit, the company was very supportive.
“They gave me milestones and rewards as an incentive, and it worked. It inspired me to start exercising.
“I was very overweight, in the high 90 kilograms, and eating lots of fast food.”
She said her busy home life made it difficult to exercise, but after hiring a personal trainer and starting running, she lost 28kg and dropped from a dress size 20 to a 10.
She has now set her sights on the Dubai Marathon early next year – one of many events sponsored by Dubai Holding – followed by the vertical version.
“Prior to exercising, I would get rheumatoid arthritis and problems with my legs,” Ms Hartnett, who is now a member of Dubai Creek Striders Running Club, added.
“They put me on tablets, but they made me feel very sick. Since I started running, everything has gone. I feel much healthier. “The wellness programme is all free and gives advice on posture, diet and exercise programmes. Dubai Holding has stuck its neck out to help staff. Next year, I’d like to run the Vertical Marathon.”
About 300 people will take part in Friday’s race up 265 metres of Emirates Towers, raising funds for the Al Jalila Foundation in the process.
Last year, Dh280,000 was raised by more than 170 runners for healthcare research, so expectations are high that more can be raised this year.
With her new-found fitness, Ms Hartnett has also been keen to do her bit for charity, and she raised Dh11,000 from running the Dubai 10km in January, donating the money to the Al Jalila Foundation.
Her company’s wellness programme covers 22,000 employees working at the Jumeirah Group, Tecom Investments, Dubai Properties Group and Emirates International Telecommunications.
Other activities include promoting healthy and convenient food options for employees, a healthy working environment, advice on weight management and how to stay healthy and active during Ramadan.
Cedric Betis, chairman of Dubai Holding’s Wellness Committee, was a winner in last year’s team Vertical Marathon event.
“Our wellness programme is all about our people,” he said.
“We started off by creating an executive wellness programme for just eight people.
“We wanted to create a culture of wellness in the hope that would cascade down to the other staff and create a better workplace.”
nwebster@thenational.ae
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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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
