Waking up late for a flight is every business traveller’s worst nightmare - but Emirates Airline’s efficient organisation and Dubai International Airport soon had me sorted out for my morning dash to make the 8.50 to Budapest this week.
It helps that the chauffeur is always a much better timekeeper and, thankfully, also used to patiently waiting for passengers, too.
We whizzed down the Sheikh Zayed Road, mercifully empty after the busy holiday weekend, and I was dropped in the dedicated First and Business Class terminal with my not inconsiderable haul of baggage.
It’s not far to push a trolley to the Business Class check-in and there was no queue. The smiling check-in lady quickly issued my boarding pass 1A, and told me to go directly to the Business Class lounge for boarding at Gate A7.
There is no First Class on this Boeing 777 300R flight so I got the front seat. A flash of my passport in the Smart Gate and a glance a the green light and I was through the security check in a matter of a few minutes.
Then I glanced at my watch. Remarkably it was only 30 minutes since leaving home on the Palm Jumeirah and I had time for breakfast in the lounge.
I last missed a flight about five years ago at London Heathrow when I just could not find the car rental return, having left the timing a bit too tight.
Heathrow to Dubai is not such a big issue as there is always another flight coming in a couple of hours, and the penalty for changing was not that enormous then.
But Budapest would have been a matter of waiting until the next day and missing an important business meeting. Still, I could relax a little in the huge Emirates’ Business Class lounge right across the top level of Terminal 3.
It’s a reminder of just how globalised travel has become these days.
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I actually had to ask for the location of the Western breakfast section as there are so many different options from Asian to Arabic and Indian; for some reason people do like to start the day with food from their own culture and I am no exception.
It was not great. No sign of a toaster and tired scrambled egg and chicken sausages. Perhaps I should not have bothered. We did get a perfectly fine continental breakfast on board.
Seat 1A offered extra legroom and less distraction for working. There’s a multi-plug in the seat for adaptors and the table is fine for a laptop although there was no internet connection.
Instead I read a physical newspaper for the first time in ages. The Business Class also has its very own investment magazine called Portfolio, an early spin-off from the Gulf Business magazine I founded 22 years ago this month.
You are always spoilt for entertainment options on Emirates with its ICE system. I watched two new feature films, LBJ and Darkest Hour, both about the bleakest historical moments in recent US and UK history, respectively - the Kennedy assassination and Churchill in 1939.
I also enjoyed charming and attentive service from the cabin staff. For full-service lunch I took the Arabic Mezze, Asian prawns and European cheeses for a truly cosmopolitan experience.
Our Brazilian pilot landed ahead of schedule. However, unlike the Dubai airport, there is no fast track for Business Class or a Smart Gate at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport.
I certainly got off the plane first from my front seat. But then I had to queue for an hour to get through the immigration as a large aircraft from another Arabian Gulf country had just beaten us to the gate.
Still, I would have been even further at the back of the queue if travelling in the rear compartment. It is was obviously just not destined to be on on-time sort of day for me.
That said, a swift taxi ride deposited me in the centre of Budapest just in time for my meeting.
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.”
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
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