'Tourath': The Arabic word for heritage comes from inheritance

World Heritage Day was marked this week, reminding global citizens to cherish important sites that can link us to moments in history and symbolise key elements of our culture.

Heritage is a word with a long history and a deep meaning. The English word as we know it is derived from an old French word, heriter, meaning to inherit. Before that, heriter came from the Latin word hereditatem, meaning to be an heir.

The etymology of the English word shows that it’s used to describe things, practices and places that have been passed on through generations. Heritage, therefore, is a form of inheritance – something left behind by older generations to newer ones.

The Arabic word for heritage is tourath, which comes from erth, meaning legacy. Tourath is a significant word, as it denotes all the different aspects of what is inherited, which could range from the cultural to the linguistic or even the sartorial.

Tourath is a noun, often used with an adjective to specify the different types of heritage, such as tourath al aabaa'a (ancestral heritage) or tourath al she’er (heritage of poetry). In the UAE, the word is often seen during Union Day as a reminder of the country's origins, a time to appreciate what generations left behind for us to use and take forward.

A popular summer camp in the country also bears the word in its name, Nady Tourath Al Emaraat, which translates to Emirates Heritage Club. During camp, young people are taught skills and lessons passed down by elders, such as tying knots and catching fish with nothing but a line and a hook – practices that aren’t commonplace today. At the camp, children learn that all aspects of heritage passed down to them are important to maintain and preserve. It's not just the skills they pick up, but also the bonds they create that enable tourath to become ingrained in younger generations.

But heritage is not just a reflection of the past, there is modern heritage too. Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi decided to mark some of the most important landmarks across the city with plaques.

These plaques read modern heritage and its translation al tourath al hadeeth – showing that tourath is not just about preserving the past, but also highlighting new creations worth embedding into a culture's heritage, giving them extra attention and care.

They have been posted in 60 locations across the city, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Central Bank, Al Ibrahimi Tower, Zayed Sports City and the Main Bus Terminal.

“The modern heritage of Abu Dhabi serves as a reminder of our emirate, and our country, what we stand for, what we strive for, and for the legacy that we are creating for future generations,” chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, wrote in a column for The National.

“Together we must guard modern heritage, because of the value it holds in our collective memory as residents of this emirate, and because of the historical testimony it conveys in telling Abu Dhabi’s story through architectural and urban identity.”

UAE tour of Zimbabwe

All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I

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.”