The Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship makes a quick return in November, the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation announced.
The last staging of the world's biggest jiu-jitsu tournament in April drew more than 2,000 fighters from 80 countries vying for a slice of the Dh2.7million prize money.
Mohammed Salem Al Dhaheri, vice president of UAEJJF, confirmed the federation has assigned a committee to organise the 13th edition of the tournament most commonly known as the World Pro in the last quarter of this year without specifying dates.
“We want to provide the world’s best an opportunity to shine in the most prestigious event on the calendar, especially those who were not able to participate in the 12th edition due to travel restrictions,” he said.
“The level of participation in the 12th edition underlines its importance to jiu-jitsu athletes around the world. The appetite is as strong as ever and we owe it to the athletes to give them a safe and secure platform on which to compete in the sport they love.
“With the gradual easing of travel restrictions in the coming months, we are optimistic about returning to normal life and welcoming the maximum possible participation in the 13th edition of largest and most prestigious event on the global jiu-jitsu calendar.”
April's World Pro attracted thousands of global spectators despite the event being held behind closed doors, with fans tuning in to the action via the UAEJJF's digital channels.
The federation said the 12th staging of the World Pro attracted almost 400,000 views and 67,000 hours of watch time. The next edition of the championship will be live streamed on the UAEJJF's YouTube channel and will also be broadcast on Abu Dhabi Sports TV.
Meanwhile, Abdulmunam Al Hashemi, president of the UAEJJF, says it plans to hold the biggest training session of the martial art on record at Expo 2020 Dubai on November 15.
The UAE holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest jiu-jitsu lesson set at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre in 2015.
Held on the occasion of the National Sports Day, the UAE had 2,481 jiu-jitsu athletes participating in a lesson at a single venue, smashed an earlier record of 2,212.
“We have put forward some initiatives to support the success of Expo 2020 in Dubai, which we are confident will be the largest and most important in the world,” Brazilian ambassador to the UAE Fernando Luis Lemos said.
“The UAE holds the Guinness Book of Records for the largest jiu-jitsu training and we were keen to organise another larger training session to enter the Guinness Book and lead the UAE to break the previous record it had set.
“We want to use the Expo 2020 Dubai as a background for this important event, as we have a large pavilion.”
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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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Rating: 3/5
Directors: Ramin Bahrani, Debbie Allen, Hanelle Culpepper, Guillermo Navarro
Writers: Walter Mosley
Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Dominique Fishback, Walton Goggins
