Rory McIlroy says he is happy to be making a “gentler” start to the DP World Tour season as he gets ready to tee it up at the first Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek on Thursday.
The world No 2 will play alongside Ryan Fox at 9.14am in the opening round, with two amateur players also part of their group.
The tournament is a fresh addition to the Tour schedule. It includes 60 pros playing alongside 60 amateurs for three of the four rounds. The final round will consist of professionals only.
It is the first of seven tournaments to be played in the region this year. It will be followed by the Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club next weekend.
There are then tournaments in Ras Al Khaimah, Bahrain and Qatar, while the Tour season reaches its climax in Abu Dhabi then Dubai in consecutive weeks in November.
The Creek has staged Tour golf before. Back in 1999 and 2000, the Desert Classic was played there.
McIlroy thinks the event will provide a friendly start to the campaign, as he gets ready to defend his Classic title a week later.
“I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks,” said McIlroy, who won his fifth Race to Dubai title in November at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
“This is a different way to start the season than previous ones. Abu Dhabi is now at the end of the year, which is exciting, because another big tournament at the end of the season could decide the season-long race.
“This is a nice, maybe gentler introduction back into golf with this pro-am format this week at the Creek, and then obviously looking ahead to the Dubai Desert Classic next week also.”
McIlroy says he is happy to be meeting up with familiar faces this week, and not just among the pro ranks.
“I have a lot of friends in Dubai, and I know a lot of the amateurs coming to play,” McIlroy said.
“I thought it would be a gentle way to start the season and treat it more as a bit of a practice week and see where my game is.
“[I want to] see if I need to make any adjustments going into next week, and obviously the bulk of the season, starting off in the States in California in a few weeks’ time.
“I just thought it was a good opportunity to get on the golf course, get a card in my hand but in a more relaxed setting, so I'm excited for the week.”
Abdullah Al Naboodah, the host of the tournament, has been a pivotal figure in the development of the sport in the UAE in the past 20 years.
Tommy Fleetwood, the world No 15 who is a resident of Dubai, says the strength of the field is a credit to Al Naboodah.
“Abdullah has put so much effort into this and brought another event into the Middle East and the Creek, which we've not played a tournament here for a very long time,” Fleetwood said.
“I've never played a tournament here, that's for sure. I think everybody loves starting the year in Dubai. Abu Dhabi has moved to the back end of the year, so adding another event to take that place for the one just before the Desert Classic I think is great.”
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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.”
