The Yas Heat Academy is looking to recruit local eSports gaming talent. Courtesy Yas Heat
The Yas Heat Academy is looking to recruit local eSports gaming talent. Courtesy Yas Heat
The Yas Heat Academy is looking to recruit local eSports gaming talent. Courtesy Yas Heat
The Yas Heat Academy is looking to recruit local eSports gaming talent. Courtesy Yas Heat

Yas Heat Academy is on the hunt for virtual racing champions

A new initiative aims to recruit local gaming talent in the motoring eSports

Evelyn Lau
Evelyn Lau
Abu Dhabi

August 15, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

The popularity of virtual motorsports is growing among gamers, and now fans can try their hand at sim-racing through a new initiative aimed at nurturing the skills of local talent.

The Yas Heat Open Trials is inviting motorsport gamers in the UAE to participate in try-out sessions to test their skills on a virtual racetrack. The top five talents will be selected to join the Yas Heat Academy.

Following the creation of the V10 R-League, part of the Global Racing Series, the programme is looking to recruit gamers in the region for future iterations of the league.

Over a 12-month period, the academy will work on developing and honing players's skills so they can represent the UAE in future competitions. The current UAE team for this year's event features international gamers Jaroslav "Jardier" Honzik, Eamon Murphy, Andrea Capoccia and Simone Fedele.

Participants can apply to take part in the Open Trials by answering a set of questions and sharing their experience in sim-racing. The Yas Heat team will get in touch to invite select individuals to participate in time trials against each other. Yas Marina Circuit will serve as the primary virtual racetrack.

Based on performance in the time trials, five applicants will be asked to join the academy. Beyond the V10 R-League, Yas Heat will also enter other eRacing competitions, such as Forza and Gran Turismo, among other high-profile eSport events.

"The Yas Heat eSports team is the start of a multi-year programme and commitment to develop a globally successful virtual racing ecosystem for Abu Dhabi. We are excited about the team competing in its first season in the Global Racing Series, the V10 R-league, Forza and Gran Turismo competition.

"The launch of the Open Trials will look to find the best racing talent in the UAE and the region. Yas Heat and Veloce will now work to develop next generation virtual racing champions to perform at the highest level,” said Saif Al-Noaimi, team principal of Yas Heat.

For more information, visit www.yasmarinacircuit.com/yas-heat

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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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Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.

The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.

1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):

a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33

b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.

2. For those who have worked more than five years

c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.

Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.

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