Emirates resumes flights to Beirut and Baghdad on Saturday

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Emirates Airline will resume flights from Dubai to Lebanon's capital Beirut and Iraq's capital Baghdad on Saturday, after announcing plans to reinstate both services last month.

The airline had extended a long-standing suspension of its routes to the cities until January 31 as a safety measure amid regional tensions.

A two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah - which was due to end on January 26 - was last week extended until February 18.

It provided a boost to efforts to maintain peace and stability in Lebanon, which were already buoyed by the recent election of President Joseph Aoun.

His appointment ended a power vacuum that had persisted since 2022 and represented a crucial step forward as efforts continue to maintain the ceasefire agreement and begin postwar reconstruction efforts.

In a telephone call last month, President Sheikh Mohamed wished Mr Aoun success in leading Lebanon and fulfilling the aspirations of its people for development and stability.

The UAE last week announced that its embassy in Lebanon's capital Beirut had officially resumed diplomatic activities.

The two countries agreed to strengthen bilateral relations in recent months.

Omar Al Shamsi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the reopening of the embassy was an important step in the renewed co-operation between the UAE and Lebanon, state news agency Wam reported.

Expanding operations

From April 1, Emirates will add a second daily service to Beirut.

The daily flight to Beirut beginning on February 1 will depart from Dubai at 11.30am, arriving in Beirut at 2pm. The return flight will leave Beirut at 3.30pm, landing in Dubai at 9.20pm.

From April 1, Emirates’ second daily service will take off at 7.30am, arriving in Beirut at 10.30am. The return flight will leave Beirut at 12.05pm, arriving in Dubai at 4.55pm.

Emirates’ daily flights to Baghdad will leave Dubai at 8.05am on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, reaching Baghdad at 9.50am. The return journey will leave Baghdad at 11.25am, landing in Dubai at 2.35pm.

On Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the service will depart Dubai at 1pm, arriving in Baghdad at 2.25pm.

The return flight leaves at 3.55pm, touching down in Dubai at 7.10pm.

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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.”

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.	United States
2.	China
3.	UAE
4.	Japan
5	Norway
6.	Canada
7.	Singapore
8.	Australia
9.	Saudi Arabia
10.	South Korea

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