Pictures speak a thousand words, they say. If you look at the photo I took, you will know how some companies jeopardise the lives of their employees.
It was shocking. Can we care less about human lives?
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
Countless people have reasons to thank the UAE
I refer to the article Indian labourers see rewards of life in UAE back at home (February 24). The UAE is an amazing country which embraces every one, irrespective of their religion, nationality and creed, with open arms.
The country not only helps hundreds of thousands of people to build their lives back home and take care of their families, but it gives so many people a new lease on life within its territory. And when it comes to getting back what you give, there is no better example than the UAE. It’s so wealthy and can hold its head high largely because it gives to others with an open heart.
There are countless people all over the world who are ever grateful to the UAE for what they have got from the country.
Abbas Naqvi, Ras Al Khaimah
Festival showcased UAE’s strengths
The Qasr Al Hosn festival was a great experience for me (Qasr Al Hosn Cavalia debut a roaring success, February 23).
We went on Saturday to Qasr Al Hosn and fell so much in love with this truly amazing and superbly organised event.
It was so exquisitely set up, with so much to do and see, to learn and enjoy.
As for the Cavalia show, I had tears in my eyes when I saw it. The beauty and enormous attention to details to show UAE’s history, (pearlfishing and Emirati tunes played by musicians behind the curtains), and the strength of the horses and riders, acrobats and everyone involved, was mind boggling. It was an event we shall never forget.
It was so stunning that we are still talking about it. Probably we will go to see the show again this week.
As always, UAE, you simply are the best, you never do anything by half.
Brigitte von Bulow, Abu Dhabi
Does revolution solve problems?
The Arabic News Digest item, The Arabs struggle to resist a good conspiracy theory (February 23), points out what has been happening in the region for the past several years.
In fact, I could not see anything in the revolution. Instead, traditional beliefs and principles are on the verge of extinction. Many leaders of the region have disappeared, and along with them they seem to have taken all of our values and ethics. Revolutions often destroy what people create over decades, not to speak of the loss of innocent lives.
The problem is that the root cause of revolution remains open for a long time, thus leading to fresh conflicts of ideology and thinking.
The so-called conspiracy theories are very much part of every fight in which both sides gain, but in different ways. It’s right that “conspiracy theories are a comfortable pillow for those who want to justify their failure or inability”. The truth is, when there is a will there is always a way and nothing could stand in our way if we decide to make something happen.
Ramachandran Nair, Oman
Rolling Stones continue to shine
In July 1964, aged 16, I was at a girls’ boarding school in England. Our music master took us to London for the BBC radio recording of the Joe Loss Pop Show. The Rolling Stones were the star guests that week.
We were not allowed to shout, scream or applaud until a “clap” sign was shown after each of the six songs. It was magical then and true perfection on Friday, 50 years later.
Judi Ashcroft, Dubai
Pictures prove skills of photographer
The pictures of Dubai taken by Daniel Cheong that I saw in the blogpost Daniel Cheong: capturing the majesty of Dubai's architecture (February 15), are really amazing. It seems to me that the Dubai I see and the Dubai presented in those photographs are entirely different. These pictures show the level of skills Cheong has: he knows how and when to take a picture. These are the most important things in photography. For me, Cheong is a master photographer.
Rajkumar, Dubai
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
more from Janine di Giovanni
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.”
Captain Marvel
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
4/5 stars
