Royal recognition for DIFC Courts registrar who had to keep it all quiet

Congratulations are in order for Mark Beer, the registrar of the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts, who was named as a member of the Order of the British Empire last week.
Mr Beer, previously the chairman of the British Business Group in the emirate, got the gong along with Joseph Tabet, the chairman of construction and design company Frayland, which has been in the Middle East for 30 years.
At a recent dinner gathering, before the award was announced, Mr Beer gave no hint of the honour to come.
"I was asked if I'd accept the award a month ago, and was of course delighted to do so. But it was difficult to keep it secret in those weeks, as the protocol requires," he told me later.
He has been a leading force in the development of the DIFC's much-applauded legal system, which is increasingly regarded as a model for independent legal arbitration in the region.
Mr Beer is also an active participant in the charitable scene in the UAE, helping to raise money for worthy causes over many selfless hours of fund-raising dinners and events at some of Dubai's top venues.
I aim to congratulate him personally over a coffee, or something, in the very near future.
***
My telecoms travails continue. As I wrote last week, I had some serious problems with a new BlackBerry Q10 device that left me frustrated and exasperated and wondering how we ever lived in the pre-mobile age.
I have to give BlackBerry some credit for customer care, however.
Within hours of the article appearing, I had a call from their representatives in the UAE offering to lead me through the "getting started" process with the device, which was very welcome indeed.
It contrasted starkly with the reaction from Etisalat. I bought the device from one of their retail outlets and expected some concern that the product wasn't working properly.
A chap at Etisalat's Al Wasl business centre - surely the most depressing experience in customer interface in Dubai - laid his palm on the Q1 in the manner of an experienced doctor and pronounced: "internal problem".
The new mobile is still with Etisalat, no doubt undergoing extensive surgery.
I await a call to tell me the patient has pulled through and is ready for discharge. I shall report back.
**
The occasional Frank Kane Award for the most ridiculous bit of PR hype to come through my email this time goes to Avis UAE, the car hire firm, and Keep It Clean, the "Dubai-based company committed to create [sic] a better environment by involving citizens."
Even though I'm not a citizen, I was grateful to be included in an email shot that heralded a "unique solution" to the age-old problem of in-car rubbish.
This technological breakthrough is called "CarBag" and is . wait for it . a plastic bag that you keep in the car until full, when you can . wait for it again . throw it in a "regular trash bin".
The release explains it is a "simple and practical bag" and that "no extra fittings are needed".
What a relief not to have to lash out on extensive internal re-engineering to be part of the new-wave in-car rubbish experience. Now I can simply throw away the old Spinneys bag I usually keep in the car for crisp packets, tissues, Coke cans and such, and have a state-of-the-art CarBag instead.
Let's give Keep It Clean full marks for their PR efforts, but a global giant such as Avis should know better than to put its name to this rubbish.

fkane@thenational.ae

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.”

New UK refugee system

A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds

Desert Warrior

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: 3/5