The Skydive Dubai tam boats cut through the water on Lake Maggiore in Italy on Saturday. Simon Palfrader
The Skydive Dubai tam boats cut through the water on Lake Maggiore in Italy on Saturday. Simon Palfrader
The Skydive Dubai tam boats cut through the water on Lake Maggiore in Italy on Saturday. Simon Palfrader
The Skydive Dubai tam boats cut through the water on Lake Maggiore in Italy on Saturday. Simon Palfrader

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Powerboat: Skydive Dubai on pole in Italy Grand Prix

Fazza demoted as Skydive Dubai team takes Italian Grand Prix pole and Qatar Team win Speed Cat Run.

Agency

August 31, 2013

  • English
  • Arabic

Stresa, Italy // The Qatar Team held their nerve to once again emerge as the speed kings of the UIM Skydive Dubai World Series on Lake Maggiore in Italy on Saturday.

Taking on the rest of the field in the head-to-head Dubai Duty Free Speed Cat Run which is contested on a straight 1km course, the team of Mohammed Al Nasr and Abdulrahman Al Nasr defeated Fazza in the penultimate round before getting the better of Team Westerlund in the final.

This was the Qatar Team's second successive Speed Cat victory, having topped the podium in the last round of the series in Dubai in March.

Speaking after the final, Al Nasr said: "I am very happy to come first again and especially here in Italy because this is the first time we are racing here in Europe.

"We had a very good start and pushed more and that got us first place," he added, also giving credit to his new co-pilot Al Nasser.

As for the task that lies ahead – the main race of the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, Al Nasr said: "We start [Sunday] in position number four so we have a chance to reach the first buoy in the lead which is good.

"All the XCAT boats are now strong so it won't be easy but we hope to finish in the top three. I think the conditions will be good [Sunday] but for me it's better if there is no wind. I prefer the flat water."

Earlier in the day Saturday, there was disappointment for current series leaders Fazza (Arif Al Zaffain and Mohammed Al Marri), who claimed the fastest time in the Emaar Pole Position race, but were later disqualified after failing to pass post-race scrutineering and will now have to start bottom of the pile.

As a result, the Skydive Dubai team of Rashid Al Tayer and Jay Price will start in pole position, with Six in second spot and Mouawad in third.

"It's quite a fun course," said Price. "There are a lot of turns and you really have to set the boat deep and accelerate out of it, but with my new driver we've got a good handle on the boat and we're looking good."

As for where Skydive Dubai's main competition is likely to come from, Price said: "I hope I don't look out for anybody. I hope they're all looking out for us."

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Sinan Antoon

(Yale University Press)

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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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