Dubai's public parking operator has agreed to a five-year partnership with Damac Properties to manage 3,600 paid parking spaces in its residential developments.
The deal with one of the UAE's leading real estate developers will enable Parkin to make its first inroads into the Abu Dhabi market, marking a significant expansion of its network.
Parkin will oversee about 500 on-street parking spaces in Damac Hills 1, a popular gated community comprising villas, townhouses and apartments. Under the agreement, Parkin will manage paid parking areas a another 44 residential and commercial towers, including sites in Downtown Dubai, DIFC, Dubai Marina and Business Bay, as well as Reem Island in Abu Dhabi.
Parkin will offer a mix of short and long-term visitor and permit parking at Damac's residential towers, commercial buildings and malls. The parking services will be integrated with Parkin's app.
Parking plan to launch next year
Parkin said the new zones would be introduced early next year and would include parking enforcement monitoring and the use of automatic number plate recognition technology.
“This five-year partnership with Damac is a strong endorsement of Parkin’s three decades of expertise in technology, operations and enforcement," said Parkin chief executive Mohamed Al Ali. "In addition, expanding into Abu Dhabi marks a milestone in our growth strategy, as we extend our reach beyond Dubai."
Expansion in the UAE
Parkin was selected by the Dubai government to oversee the emirate's paid parking network in January 2024. Parkin manages more than 200,000 spaces across Dubai, including public parking and multistorey car parks, as well as some privately owned parking spaces.
In April, Parkin announced variable fees in Dubai, including peak pricing for six of the 14 chargeable hours each day, from 8am to 10am and 4pm to 8pm. Sundays and public holidays are excluded.
The company's other revenue streams include the enforcement and issuance of seasonal permits, parking reservations and other commercial activities.
In January, Parkin introduced barrier-free parking systems at three malls in partnership with conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim. The systems were put in place at Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Deira and City Centre Mirdif under a five-year contract.
In August, Parkin linked up with Dubai Holdings on a plan to introduce 29,600 more paid parking spaces. Parkin said the zones were to be introduced in response to the emirate's sustained population boom.
It also manages 2,100 paid parking spaces across 59 sites at Dubai mosques, in a move that came into effect in August.
Parkin’s total income in the third quarter of this year was a record Dh343.3 million ($93.5 million), up by 43 per cent compared with the same period in 2024. Net profit surged by 50 per cent to Dh157 million.
Parkin is also working with Dubai Police to help find vehicles linked to outstanding fines, crimes and traffic offences. The force said in October that the agreement would connect police traffic management systems with the company's smart parking and payment platforms.
The system will help police identify vehicles with outstanding fines or seizure orders as soon as they use Parkin sites. It will also help detect vehicles wanted in connection with criminal or traffic cases.
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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.”
