Formula One has a contingency plan to keep the show on the road should the season-ending races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi be affected by conflict in the Middle East, says chief executive Stefano Domenicali.
The Italian, who is meeting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street along with several drivers and team principals on Wednesday as part of an event to mark the 75th anniversary of F1, emphasised there was no current concern those races might not be held.
Qatar is due to host the penultimate round of the championship on November 30, with Abu Dhabi following on December 7. Yas Marina Circuit has been a title decider in the past.
Iran responded to US participation in Israel's 12-day air war against Iran last month by firing missiles at an American airbase in Qatar, just across the Gulf from Iran.
Airline services in the Middle East were heavily disrupted, with some countries closing airspace for a period.
Domenicali said Formula One was in daily contact with promoters in the Middle East, who he said remained relaxed, and was closely monitoring the situation.
“To say something on that is very, very difficult,” he said on Tuesday when asked if he felt there was a real risk of the races not happening.
“So far, we don't have this kind of signal and so we are really hoping not. So I don't want to even think about it, mainly for the bigger picture and not for the racing itself … and of course, in case of, we have a plan.
“But let's hope this will not be even thinkable.”
Qatar and Abu Dhabi are the last two races in a triple-header on successive weekends that starts with Las Vegas on November 22, with the cars then moving straight to the Middle East.
While weather conditions in December would make it tricky to host replacement races at some European tracks, there are warmer options such as Portugal's Algarve circuit, which was used during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Europe is big, the temperatures are quite mild in certain areas,” said Domenicali, who agreed one circuit might host both races. “Definitely, we cannot go in places where there will be snow. But as I said, I am not even thinking about that.
“We are not worried at all that this will have an effect on the championship.”
Formula One raced in Saudi Arabia in 2022 despite attacks launched by Yemen's Houthis on an oil facility near the Jeddah street circuit.
Domenicali said Formula One was there then because it was sure of the guarantees of safety but recognised situations could change fast.
“We just need to be always ready and monitor the situation,” he said.
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UAE fixtures
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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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Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
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