Paul McCartney gig: so that's what Beatlemania felt like



I must confess, when I first heard Sir Paul McCartney was coming to perform in Abu Dhabi at the Formula One Grand Prix, I was less than enthusiastic. I didn't have a race ticket for a start, and expected he'd do a good job of performing his solo works and Wings songs - of which I am not a big fan - with just a sprinkling of Beatles tunes. But as the time drew nearer, amid speculation that he would devote at least half of his set to Beatles songs - of which I am a massive fan - I decided I had to go and see him. The man's not getting any younger and I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to see an ex-Beatle perform live (not sure I'd bother with Ringo).

And so began the quest for a ticket. I was not prepared to shell out around Dh1,800 for a weekend race pass just for one concert, so on Sunday night I was prepared to head to Yas Island to beg, borrow or steal - or pay a few dirhams - for someone's pass.

Happily, at the 11th hour, a colleague to whom I will be forever indebted called to say I could have her race tickets, so I was spared any embarrassment or jail time.

And so the race was on, to meet my colleague to pick up the tickets and to wait for my friend to buy shoes (she'd locked herself out of the house in her slippers).

Finally, passes in hand and with just moments to spare, we made it to Yas Arena to wait for Sir Paul.

He began his set with the uptempo Beatles classic Hello, Goodbye, and the next hour was a mix of Wings, solo songs (many of which I was not familiar with, and some that rang a bell), and a peppering of early Beatles numbers. And McCartney saying "shukran" rather a lot.

It was fun. People were singing and dancing along and I was having a good time, but all the while wondering whether he'd play any of my favourites. The acoustic Blackbird (one of my all-time favourites, as my dad used to play it to me when I was a little girl) was a little ruined for me, as the crowd's chatter drowned it out somewhat.

But the turning point came when he played beautiful renditions of Eleanor Rigby and Something. By the time he played A Day in the Life and Yesterday, I was blubbering like a baby, a combination of the realisation that a real, live Beatle was performing songs I have loved for decades, and a sadness that certain friends and family couldn't be there to share the experience. I pulled myself together, though, and McCartney went on to do not one but two encores, ending with the high-energy Helter Skelter and Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End. It was indeed a fitting end to a perfect night.

That Macca is still going so strong at 70 is amazing and I can now understand why girls used to scream, cry and faint back in the 1960s. I can't believe I almost missed out on this truly memorable night, of fabulous music surrounded by great friends. With what I know now, I'd happily have parted with Dh1,800 just for those two hours with him.

Results

5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m

Winner No Riesgo Al Maury, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)

5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m

Winner Marwa W’Rsan, Sam Hitchcott, Jaci Wickham.

6pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m

Winner Dahess D’Arabie, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi.

6.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m

Winner Safin Al Reef, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.

7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,200m

Winner Thulbaseera Al Jasra, Shakir Al Balushi, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.

7.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh 80,000 2,200m

Winner Autumn Pride, Szczepan Mazur, Helal Al Alawi.

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.”

PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar