Continue to be kind to each other through Eid and beyond

Ramadan is over for another year and for many of us, this is a time of celebration, getting together and catching up on that all-important sleep you missed during the Holy Month. But while we all tuck into our breakfasts and enjoy those much-missed morning cups of coffee, I hope there is at least one part of Ramadan that we take with us through the rest of the year – kindness.

One of the tenets of fasting is that we not only restrict our bodies by refraining from food and drink but we also temper our minds from impure thoughts, meanness of spirit and anger or frustration. This is definitely a much harder challenge than the physical one, especially given the shorter fuse that being hungry and thirsty can give us, but that is part of the beauty of this month. If you follow the rules correctly, you can give you mind, body and soul an inner cleanse. If you can truly bring yourself to feel and think only positive thoughts about you and your fellow humans, then you will have a much happier soul.

Of course, for many people in the region, this test has been almost impossible. People in Gaza are under ferocious attack, those in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq are suffering from on-going war and Egypt is still rocking. You only have to turn on any news channel to see millions of people less fortunate than we are here in the UAE. It has been a tough Ramadan for them.

So, I think it is time for some basic human compassion.

One of my favourite authors and regular visitors to the region, Karen Armstrong, won a TED prize a few years ago for her Charter for Compassion. It is a bid to get every individual, company, city and government to sign a personal pledge to treat their fellow humans as they would want to be treated themselves. While ambitious, it is an attempt to spread some love in a world where it is much needed. Whenever I think of this act and look at what is happening around us it makes me think of the adage: united we stand and divided we fall. There are so many things tearing us apart at the moment that the least we can do is be kind to one another.

A good friend recently posted this plea on Facebook and I have decided to use these days of Eid, when everyone is in jolly spirits, to follow her words.

“Be kind. Hold the door open for someone. Compliment them and ask them how their day was. Ask them if they need help. Smile. Offer someone a taste of your food. Give water and food to the poor. Be gentle to your family. Tell them they are beautiful. Hold their hands. Give them a hug. Smile again. It doesn’t cost anything to be kind, all you need is a heart and we all have one of them.”

Eid Mubarak to everyone and I wish for a better world.

aseaman@thenational.ae

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

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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.”

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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