Gwyneth Pritchard, from the cold hills of Wales, learnt about multiculturalism in the best possible way.
Marrying an Emirati student she came to know while studying at Cardiff University in the early 1970s, Ms Pritchard moved to Abu Dhabi in 1980.
A trained teacher, she started her own pre-school called Little Smarties Nursery and Pre-School in Abu Dhabi in 2007 with nine children. Here, she talks about what makes her nursery special.
With so many nurseries around what is your unique selling point?
Through the nursery we reach out to Emiratis and expatriates alike. I believe there is a need for parents and children to be able to connect more in the Emirates, not just with their own expatriate group but with people from all corners of the globe.
We are very much pro-active in the Khalifa City community, holding social gatherings from family evenings, "movie on the lawn" at the nursery, to "health nights", where doctors and specialists are invited to give informal demos and talks about any subject related to childhood. We also have "cross-cultural evenings".
How many nationalities do you have now?
I have 180 children and 43 nationalities such as Chinese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Turkish, European, American and, of course, Emiratis.
How do you publicise your business?
Last year, a lot of nurseries mushroomed everywhere. But choosing a nursery is an individual choice. I never give advertisement during the year [only for the school's summer programme in July and August].
Any plans to expand?
The nursery accepts children from 12 months to 4 years of age. Since 2010, we have been taking babies as young as 45 days. Due to parent demand, we are looking at another nursery in a different location. This would cater especially to working mothers because so many ladies across cultures are looking for work. Plus, you hear horrific stories of nannies. But we will not increase the number of students at the existing nursery. We are looking for the right location with the right size rooms … [and] a lawn.
What is the teacher to children ratio at your nursery?
Last year, I started taking babies, less than a year old. If requested, I will take [them] from two months. We have one nurse for a baby.
For two-year-olds and below, we have three students to one teacher, who we call a care giver. For three-year-olds, we have around five students to one teacher. And for four-year-olds, we have eight to one teacher and we do not take more than 16 students in a class.
What are the challenges?
The demand is huge. I have 100 children on the waiting list.
ssahoo@thenational.ae
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
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The biog
Hobbies: Salsa dancing “It's in my blood” and listening to music in different languages
Favourite place to travel to: “Thailand, as it's gorgeous, food is delicious, their massages are to die for!”
Favourite food: “I'm a vegetarian, so I can't get enough of salad.”
Favourite film: “I love watching documentaries, and am fascinated by nature, animals, human anatomy. I love watching to learn!”
Best spot in the UAE: “I fell in love with Fujairah and anywhere outside the big cities, where I can get some peace and get a break from the busy lifestyle”
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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.”
