Back-to-school products: UAE shops offer colourful and convenient options

Oh, the joy of possessing a squeezy water bottle that had Ariel and Flounder chasing each other in circles, as envious glances were cast at the Disney princess-shaped eraser and sharpener sitting on the neighbouring desk on the first day of school.

Back-to-school shopping is a special time in a child's life, no matter how much grief it might cause a harried parent. There's something about seeing, touching and choosing colourful paraphernalia peppered with beloved characters and fun slogans, that appeals to and enlivens the senses.

Putting together a kit of cool stationery in a new bag almost assuages the grief experienced at the end of the long and lazy summer holiday (again, strictly from a child's point of view), and makes the idea of swapping fiction and fun movies with textbooks and digital worksheets a touch more palatable.

While the lenticular pencil boxes of parents' childhoods may have flickered out of style, there is an array of options your child can choose from to start the new term on a cheery note.

Scroll through the gallery above to see the back-to-school products currently on shelves in the UAE

A number of brands have also put together back-to-school kits to make parents' lives easier. Online grocery store Food Crowd, for example, has a snack box with fruit, veg, crackers, juices, chicken nuggets and more that should take care of some of your child's nutritional needs in their first week back. For easy lunch box ideas, click here.

Back-to-school snack box, Dh120, Food Crowd.

Elsewhere, Cutting Edge salon in JLT and Dubai Marina has a 50 per cent discount on hair cuts for teenagers until Wednesday, August 31; Skechers is selling two pairs of children's shoes for Dh349 (as opposed to Dh229 to Dh2,300 a pop); adidas is offering Dh100 off on every spend of Dh300; and electronics shop Eros has a laptop exchange programme in place.

Malls across Dubai are also holding activations for families as they shop. At The Dubai Mall, for example, in the Star Atrium, find activities such as science-themed workshops and shows from 4pm to 10pm until Sunday, August 28.

In Dubai Hills Mall, there are more science-inspired activities, workshops and weekend shows, with raffle draws open to shoppers, while over at Dubai Marina Mall’s Dome Atrium, there are workshops as well as magic tricks, soap making and a giant memory game for children to put their brains to the test.

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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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Back-to-school products: UAE shops offer colourful and convenient options

From quirky stationery to themed backpacks, here are some options to start your child's academic year on a cheery note

35 new things to do indoors in the UAE this summer — in pictures

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