DUBAI // The backbeat was the same, yet the lyrics could not have been more different.
Coming off the worst season of his young career, Rory McIlroy won two majors in 2014 and was so dominant on the European Tour, he secured the season-long Race to Dubai title before this week’s season finale, the DP World Championship, had begun.
Read more: DP World Tour Championship offers curtain call for Race to Dubai winner Rory McIlroy
With four emphatic victories this year against the game’s deepest fields, he climbed back to No 1 in the world, turning heads as he turned around his game.
Beyond the scores, though, there was plenty in common with his disappointing 2013 season.
The distractions just kept on coming, via a big pile of legal bills, an emotionally charged relationship break-up or merely dodging the prying eyes of an increasingly fascinated public.
In twisted fashion, the tumult from a mostly fruitless 2013 paved the way for his career year this season.
At some point, when living in a fishbowl, there comes a time to either paddle or sink. The white noise this year barely slowed him.
Practice makes perfect, he said. “I’ve got used to it,” McIlroy said Tuesday.
“I’m better at compartmentalising between stuff that’s happening off the course, then being able to focus on what’s going on, on the course.
“So I’ve got better at it, I’ve got used to it. It’s just something that it’s been a part of my life for the last couple years, so that’s how and that’s why I handle it better now.
“All that stuff, it’s experience, and it gets ingrained. I always try to learn from experiences, from mistakes and from success. Life in general is a big learning curve. I just try to learn from everything and move on. I feel I’ve learnt a lot in that regard this year.”
McIlroy will defend his title next week at the Australian Open, then kick back until the early part of 2015. Though there is pending litigation against his former management firm on the horizon, McIlroy said it will not materially affect his schedule next year, including traditional stops in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
That represents welcome news for the UAE, where he has played some of his best golf.
“I’ll be able to play all the events that I usually play,” he said.
Involved in more legal wrangling, McIlroy has not played in six weeks, but spent the past 10 days in Dubai, knocking the rust off his clubs.
He showed up at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Tuesday looking tanned and rested.
Most of the other favourites in the 60-man field have played the last two weeks in China and Turkey.
“I feel like I’m probably a little fresher than most of the guys, as well,” McIlroy said.
“I think there’s a few jaded minds and bodies getting off that plane from Turkey. Hopefully, I can use that to my advantage and put in a good performance this week.”
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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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