Fired up and fighting to be the best

More professionals in the Emirates are working just as hard, if not harder, after hours as they are during their day jobs.

In recent years, many have turned to fitness centres in the UAE that have started offering boxing training for workers. A "white-collar fight night" is taking place this Friday at the Habtoor Grand hotel in Dubai, while Haddins Fitness in Abu Dhabi is hosting a "corporate contender night".

Other employees are training to compete in group events such as the Abu Dhabi Corporate Games in November. Then there are those who prefer competitions with high-intensity challenges.

This week, about 60 fire fighters representing civil defence departments in each of the seven emirates will be competing either individually or in teams at the UAE Fire Fighting Championship.

The event runs through tomorrow under the umbrella of the International Security and National Resilience Exhibition and Conference in the capital.

Equipped with helmets, fire-retardant gear, boots and breathing apparatus, these men will have their rescue skills tested in a 1,393-square-metre arena inside the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

Tests will include a "victim rescue" using an 80 kilogram dummy that must be moved more than 20 metres, as well as the "stair climb", which requires fire fighters to carry 20kg of weight up and down a four-storey tower.

"We will get - after this competition - the best team," says Mohammed Al Ahmadi, a former fire fighter for Dubai Civil Defence who founded the challenge in the Middle East. Mr Al Ahmadi, who is also the managing director of the private firm 911 Occupational Safety and Fire Fighting Training, saw a similar championship in Canada and has since hosted such challenges in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

He says winners of the contest in Abu Dhabi this week will be sponsored to compete in a global contest to be held in the United States in October.

nparmar@thenational.ae

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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.”

How it works

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Fired up and fighting to be the best

The Life: More professionals in the emirates are working just as hard, if not harder, after-hours as they are during their day job. Here are some of the latest corporate fitness programmes and contests set for the UAE.

How it works