Your guide to the New Year’s Eve concert and fireworks at Abu Dhabi's Al Maryah Island

Abu Dhabi's Al Maryah Island will once again host one of the country’s biggest New Year’s Eve celebrations with a large fireworks display over the promenade and free performances by pop stars Tamer Hosny and Nancy Ajram. A large crowd is expected, so here are some things to know before you set out to party.

Where to park

Al Maryah Island has parking for up to 5,000 vehicles. If you plan to use the parking available then you need to arrive when the doors open at 5pm. Once the car park reaches full capacity, all vehicles will be directed off island with only taxis, public transport and emergency vehicles allowed access. When it comes to parking at the island's key hotels, the Rosewood and the Four Seasons, valet parking is only available for guests who either booked a room or made restaurant reservations. There will be no valet service for The Galleria Mall on New Year's Eve.

Road Closures

Zayed the First St (where the Rosewood is located) and Hamdan Bin Mohammed St (where the Four Seasons is) bridges, as well as the roads across Zayed the First St and Hamdan Bin Mohammed St from Reem Island, will be closed on Tuesday, December 31. Al Falah Street and 10th Street will be open to traffic.

Performance times

The promenade, where the festivities will take place, will be closed until 5pm. Those who arrive early can enjoy the plethora of stalls and food options until the celebrations kick off at 7pm.

First up on the main stage at around 8pm is Nancy Ajram. With a near three-decade career, the singer, 35, remains one of the biggest names in the Arabic music industry with more than 30 million albums sold and massive pan-Arab hits including Akhasmak Ah and Ya Salaam.

Tamer Hosny will perform at 10.30pm. The Egyptian is one of the biggest Arab pop stars in the world, while he has also made a splash overseas, thanks to collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Akon and Shaggy. With his upbeat pop hits and charming stage presence, he is an apt choice to keep up the excitement until the midnight firework display.

Access to toilets

There will be no toilets available outdoors on the promenade. Instead, they are all located inside The Galleria Mall.

More information is available on www.almaryahisland.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.”

The winners

Fiction

‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid

The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award

‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres

The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award

‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah

Children/Young Adult

‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb

6 UNDERGROUND

Director: Michael Bay

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco

2.5 / 5 stars

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The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?

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Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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The Ashes

Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels