The elegant Buddha-Bar Beach is now open at St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort. Courtesy St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort
The elegant Buddha-Bar Beach is now open at St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort. Courtesy St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort
The elegant Buddha-Bar Beach is now open at St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort. Courtesy St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort
The elegant Buddha-Bar Beach is now open at St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort. Courtesy St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort

Lifestyle

Hit List: Pro wrestling lessons, slick salon, beachside bliss and more

Your weekend mantra includes your ticket to wrestling glory, a luxury hair salon and an immersion in anime

The National

May 31, 2018

  • English
  • Arabic

Buddha bliss by the beach

The first permanent Buddha-Bar Beach opened at the St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort at the end of April and it offers suitably fancy mixed drinks and excellent (but pricey) Asian food. While it may have some strange and arbitrary rules (for no understandable reason you must enter via the main door and trek through the incredibly cold interior rather than using the multiple paths that lead up to the terrace from the beach), when you kick back, feet in the sand and watch a crimson sun drop behind the horizon with the best raspberry sorbet we've ever tried cooling your temper, all is forgiven. Opening hours are 5pm to 1am, Saturday to Wednesday, 5am to 2am, Thursday to Friday. www.buddhabarbeachabudhabi.com

Summer slam with warriors of the ‘squared circle’

Reem Mohammed / The National
Reem Mohammed / The National

If you thought you needed to travel to the United States or Japan to learn to run the ropes like WWE’s Roman Reigns or NJPW’s Kenny Omega, you’re wrong – Dubai Pro Wrestling offers lessons right here in the UAE. Usually based at Just Play in Al Quoz, the warriors of the “squared circle” are spending the summer at Dubai Sports World at Dubai World Trade Centre. Group classes (5pm for children, 7pm for adults, Sunday and Tuesday) will teach you how to perform and take a body slam, and everything else you need to become the next Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock. If taking bumps isn’t your thing and you’d rather just get really fit, consider the Ring Warriors calisthenics workout, weekdays at 6pm. www.dubaiprowrestling.com

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Trevor Sorbie’s salon makes waves in Dubai

Courtesy Trevor Sorbie
Courtesy Trevor Sorbie

The Dubai Mall's slick new Fashion Avenue extension could not be a more fitting home to the city's newest big-name hair salon, Trevor Sorbie. Fitted out with lush greenery, industrial-chic fittings and its own chill-out room, this luxury salon means business. Sorbie, who has tended to the tresses of Helen Mirren and The Beatles, opened his first salon in the UAE in late April and has sent across some of his best hairdressers, so you know you're getting top-of-the-range talent dealing with your locks. Be warned though that it can be a lengthy process. We wandered in at 7pm on a Thursday and after a balayage and cut, we weren't out of the door until midnight. However, for one of Sorbie's signature edgy yet wearable looks, it was worth every minute. Daily 10am to midnight, 04 388 8440, trevorsorbie.com

Anime that packs a punch

Now that it's Ramadan and we have a bit more time on our hands, we've been flipping through Netflix to see what's on. Giving the anime genre a try, the show One Punch Man offered an option so entertaining that we were easily able to binge through the 12 24-minute episodes that made up season one. The show is witty and easily addictive. One Punch Man follows the story of Saitama, a very strong superhero, who has grown bored of being able to beat opponents with just one punch. His quest to find a more worthy opponent leads to some very interesting scenarios. One Punch Man is available for streaming on Netflix.

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

On Women's Day
The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

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.”

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

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  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 
  • HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 
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  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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