Michael Schumacher competitive edge spells good news for Yas
A Mercedes engineer confirmed last month that motivation is hard to come by now the team is secure in fourth position in the Constructors' Championship. Yet for the drivers there is still everything to fight for.
Schumacher, the seven-time world champion, arrived in India with teammate Nico Rosberg firmly in his sights and only seven championship points separating the two drivers. Starting the race in 11th, the 42 year old showed there is little stopping him when he has the bit between his teeth.
Rosberg started in seventh, yet by the chequered flag Schumacher - having been told he was "free to race" with his stablemate - finished 1.4 seconds ahead of him in fifth place.
The result closed the gap by two points and with the battle set to continue at Yas, the showdown between the two Silver Arrows will be one of the key duels to keep an eye on in two weeks' time.
Sebastian Vettel will not gift his teammate a race win
Red Bull Racing's two-time world champion, arriving in India with the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships wrapped up, had to repeatedly insist he was not lacking any desire to win.
The German proved exactly that on Sunday by completing his perfect day in which he converted pole into a race win, led from start to finish, and also secured fastest lap on his final circuit of the race.
Now the 24 year old's focus turns to Yas Marina Circuit in two weeks where he can secure a hat-trick of victories after wins in 2009 and 2010.
Motivation is not a problem for Vettel, but if it were he will also be acutely aware that victory in Abu Dhabi will take him to within one race win of equalling Michael Schumacher's record of 13 successes in a single season.
Mark Webber, his teammate, said he wants no positions off Vettel as he fights for his first win of the season, but with such records at stake for Vettel, any intention his team principal has of gifting Webber anything will likely fall on deaf ears. Vettel wants to win in Abu Dhabi. No doubt.
Tony Fernandes will pass up chance to redeem himself
The Team Lotus principal made an unpopular decision last week when he announced Karun Chandhok, the Indian driver, would not be racing in Sunday's main event.
The Malaysian was bombarded by criticism on the social networking site Twitter and when Jarno Trulli - the Italian who kept the seat Chandhok had hoped to fill - spun on the opening lap after being hit by another car, the flak intensified.
With Abu Dhabi providing a large Indian expatriate community, Fernandes could give Chandhok a chance at Yas Marina, but with his team still fighting to secure 10th place in the Constructors' Championship, the Indian driver knows the best he can hope for is another outing in the first free practice session of the weekend.
It was confirmed at Buddh International Circuit that Frenchman Romain Grosjean will take part in FP1 at Yas for Renault.
Fernandes will be sure to keep a close eye on how Chandhok performs in comparison to the GP2 champion.
Yas to get first glimpse of future stars
With the Young Drivers' Test at Yas Marina Circuit quickly approaching, several teams have started sounding out potential candidates to take part in the three-day programme, which runs the week immediately after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Toro Rosso, who already have a challenge on their hands in squeezing Jaime Alguersuari, Sebastien Buemi and Daniel Ricciardo into two race seats for next season, are close to agreeing to provide Stefano Coletti, the 22-year-old Monaco driver, a chance to prove himself. The Red Bull-owned manufacturers are also keeping a close eye on the Italian Kevin Ceccon.
Toro Rosso had been linked with Charles Pic, but the Frenchman, it seems, will now run with Force India. Estonia's Kevin Korjus, 18, is expected to run with Renault alongside Christian Vietoris, while Sauber confirmed last week they will test Esteban Gutierrez, the Mexican, and Fabian Leimer of Switzerland.
India has a massive future in F1
Uncertainty surrounded the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. Would the track be finished? Would the country get behind the race? Would the drivers avoid the much-anticipated Delhi belly?
The answers were all an emphatic yes. Not only was the circuit finished, but it offered what the drivers said was one of the most challenging and fun tracks on the 19-race calendar. More than 95,000 spectators turned up on race day, 50,000 for qualifying and only McLaren's hospitality team suffered any stomach troubles.
Vettel said he is "already looking forward to coming back next year" and few could blame him.
Not since Abu Dhabi in 2009 has an inaugural race seen such enthusiasm. If India can build on this year - and they undoubtedly will - the country can prove to be a major player in the future of the sport.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
UAE squad
Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
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Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
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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.”
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
