Dubai World Central (DWC) is releasing more office space targeted at start-up companies in the free zone.
About 200,000 square metres of space has already been let this year in the business park and the latest units will be aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, the company said. It did not disclose how much new space would be available to rent.
About 1,000 companies are registered at the DWC business park, including Nestlé and Sinopec Petroleum. Property brokers say its location close to the site of the World Expo 2020 has spurred demand even as the broader office market in the city continues to suffer from oversupply in many locations.
Improving air and sea-based logistics infrastructure in Dubai is boosting demand for industrial property as the expansion of Jebel Ali Port and rising cargo volumes through both of the city’s airports draw in more import and export-focused companies.
The Dubai World Central district, which it describes as an “aerotropolis”, could account for as much as 60 per cent of the emirate’s GDP by 2023, the free zone estimates.
Occupier demand for space around the new airport has been increasing this year, according to Cluttons International Research.
“As occupier demand levels rise in submarkets around DWC, we anticipate the expansion of free zones where possible and an increased amount of speculative warehouse development, particularly as these areas approach saturation,” Faisal Durrani, a business development manager at Cluttons, wrote in a report.
Free zones across Dubai are competing to attract companies drawn by the city’s economic rebound.
DWC claims that it takes 10 days to establish a company in the free zone. The newly released space is due to be ready to occupy by November.
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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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