Chimera Capital, an Abu Dhabi asset management company and subsidiary of Chimera Investments, concluded the second close of its Alpha Wave Ventures II fund at $10 billion (Dh36.7bn).
The Alpha Wave Ventures II fund is Chimera’s second venture capital fund.
The fund, which is co-managed with Alpha Wave Global (formerly Falcon Edge Capital), will target high-quality, exclusive assets globally with a focus on FinTech, artificial intelligence, life sciences, consumer internet and B2B sectors, the company said in a statement.
Alpha Wave Ventures II is a multi-stage fund primarily concentrated on growth stage companies with clear exit strategies, the statement added.
Through the fund, we will be investing in dynamic, tech-driven businesses that are providing innovative solutions to key problems
Syed Basar Shueb,
chairman, Chimera Capital
“Through the fund, we will be investing in dynamic, tech-driven businesses that are providing innovative solutions to key problems, contributing to the development of the local knowledge economy, while strengthening Abu Dhabi’s position as a hub of innovation and technology,” said Syed Shueb, chairman of Chimera Capital.
Bourses in the region are ramping up efforts to diversify their product offerings to attract more foreign direct investment and boost trading activity as their economies recover from coronavirus-induced headwinds.
The fund manager is regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chimera Investment, an Abu Dhabi-based private investment company managing a diversified international portfolio of listed and private equities. It primarily focuses on the alternative asset management space.
Set up in 2007, Chimera is part of Abu Dhabi’s Royal Group, which is active in a number of sectors including property, construction, food and beverages, hospitality, aviation and health care. The group has more than 60 companies under its umbrella and employs 120,000 people.
Mena start-ups raised $1.2bn in the first half of 2021, up 64 per cent over the same period a year ago, according to data platform Magnitt. However, the number of deals dropped by 20 per cent to 254 as angel investors diverted funds towards more traditional asset classes such as stock markets and property.
The UAE led in terms of deal numbers, securing 61 per cent of all investment. Major funding rounds in the first half included $415 million for Dubai’s cloud kitchen company Kitopi, $30.5m for Saudi Arabia’s e-commerce platform Sary and $30m for Egyptian freight start-up Trella.
The UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia accounted for 71 per cent of total capital invested during the period, the Magnitt data showed.
“Building on the successful launch of five exchange-traded funds and a global venture capital fund, and the strong track record of successful fund deployments and deal executions developed over the past three years, we look forward to co-managing the Alpha Ventures II fund with our partners,” said Seif Fikry, chief executive of Chimera Capital.
In December, Chimera said it is investing $100m in Egyptian developer Gemini Global Development for a significant minority equity stake in the company to support its expansion in the Arab world’s most populous country. Gemini is a subsidiary of Ora Developers, which is owned by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.
Chimera Capital launched the first ETF tracking a Sharia-compliant index that is available to investors through the UAE’s two main stock exchanges in 2020. The Chimera S&P UAE Sharia ETF has two different share classes that will track a Sharia-compliant index compiled from stocks listed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The company listed its Chimera S&P UAE Shariah ETF – Share Class A in Abu Dhabi and did a separate listing for Share Class B on the DFM.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
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"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
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"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson
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"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)
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"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)
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"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019
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Ida B. Wells
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
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.”
