Over the past 50 years, the UAE has been climbing up through a number of global rankings, be they focused on growing tourism, foreign investment or development. Yesterday, news broke of its rising prominence on two global rankings that measure among the most fundamental factors behind a country’s success: whether people at home and abroad respect and value it.
In an important sign of things going well at home, the UAE jumped 10 places to be ranked the fourth-best place in the world in which to live and work, according to HSBC’s 14th annual Expat Explorer study, which polled people who live and work abroad in 46 countries.
And in a global sense, the firm Brand Finance listed the UAE at number 11 in its global brand Strength Index. This position beats the UK and US, something that “challenges the western status quo”, according to Andrew Campbell, managing director at Brand Finance Middle East.
Brand value brings together metrics that contribute to an overall global reputation, including brand investment, brand equity and brand performance, as well as results from the Global Soft Power Index. Soft power, defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “the use of a country's cultural and economic influence to persuade other countries to do something”, has had a particularly strong few months in the UAE. From the country’s Mars Mission to Expo 2020 Dubai, the world’s eyes have been on the Emirates this year.
And beyond long-term projects, the unplanned-for disaster of Covid-19 and the UAE’s response to it has also lifted it up the rankings. David Haigh, chairman and chief executive of Brand Finance, has pointed to the fact that recovery from the virus favours those who dealt with it proactively in the first place. That is one of the reasons why the UAE's global reputation is growing further, and why the UK, US, France and Japan have all dropped out of Brand Finance’s top 10.
Instead, it was in countries such as the Emirates where global events returned, and have been under way for some time. And, fundamentally, this is where an effective response to the pandemic garnered a reputation for competence.
Closer to home, HSBC’s survey reminds us that the same success that ensures an international outlook also secures life at home. In the UAE, 86 per cent of overseas workers said their overall quality of life is better than in their home country and more than 80 per cent of residents feel optimistic that life will return to normal in the next 12 months. There are very few countries, even rich ones, that can command such confidence. The global average was 75 per cent.
In recent years, the UAE has been growing consistently in its status and influence. That it was able to continue doing so during one of the greatest crises in modern times is even more remarkable. It is no surprise, then, that so many want to live here and be associated with the country.
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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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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
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
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
