Qatari driver Nasser Al Attiyah made an impressive start to his bid to win the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge as he took the lead in the cars category on Sunday’s first full stage.
Partnered by Frenchman Mathieu Baumel in a Toyota Hilux, Al Attiyah won the 278-kilometre Yas Marina Circuit Stage to take a 2 minutes, 18 seconds lead from Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi and German co-driver Timo Gotschalk in a Mini.
Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and Belgian Tom Colsoul, also in a Mini, were 1 min, 33 secs further away in third, with Russian Vladimir Vasilyev, the cars division winner the past two years, another 1 min, 26 secs behind.
Read more: Vladimir Vasilyev 'chasing our dreams' of third successive Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge title
Poland’s Marek Dabrowski in a Toyota Hilux and American Bryce Menzies, another Desert Challenge newcomer in a Mini, completed the top six. Finn Mikko Hirvonen, the four-times World Rally Championship runner-up, finished the leg in seventh place in a Mini.
Al Attiyah clearly enjoyed his perfect start to the Desert Challenge.
“It was very good day and I’m pleased to show people that the performance of the Toyota is very good,” Al Attiyah said.
Al Rajhi said: “It was a good first stage – nothing special. We were sick in the morning, but we are here now and we finished so we’re happy.”
Aiming to become only the second driver to complete a Desert Challenge hat-trick, Vasilyev said of his performance: “It was a good fight. We stayed close with Nasser. No real problems - a good day.”
It was a frustrating day for the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi alongside Emirati co-driver Khalid Al Kendi in a new Abu Dhabi Racing Mini.
He finished the leg 16 minutes off the lead in ninth place after sliding into a ditch.
“I was stuck for about 10 minutes trying to avoid a bike and went into a ditch,” the Emirati said.
Read more: Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi to 'fight for top position' at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
“I was then trying to catch up but missed a checkpoint and had to turn around. Hopefully, we can make up the deficit over the remaining four days.”
In the battle of the bikes, Australian rider Toby Price, this year’s Dakar Rally winner, took the stage to lead by 35 seconds from his KTM teammate, Dubai-based Sam Sunderland. Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla is another 34 seconds adrift in third on his Husqvarna, with Portuguese riders Helder Rodrigues and Jakub Piatek followed by Spain’s Txomin Arana Cobeaga completing the top six.
Top Emirati rider Mohammed Al Balooshi finished the leg in seventh place, one place ahead of Dubai-based Dave McBride, with Spanish lady rider Laia Sanz in ninth on her Desert Challenge debut.
Monday’s Adnoc stage, is 279km in length, with the event finishing on Thursday.
Abu Dhabi Dessert Challenge results (Day 1)
CARS
Position driver/driver, time
1 Al Attiyah/Baumel, Toyota, 3h:30m.00s
2 Al Rajhi/Gotschalk, Mini, 3:32.18
3 Przygonski/Colsoul, Mini, 3:33.41
4 Vasilyev/Zhiltsov, Mini, 3:35.17
5 Dabrowski/Czachor, Toyota, 3:35.54
6 Menzies/Schulz, Mini, 3:36.07
7 Hirvonen/Perin, Mini, 3:39.53
8 Serradori/Haquette, Buggy, 3:43.26
9 Al Qassimi/Al Kendi, Mini, 3:46.00
10 Coffaro/Neneses, Toyota, 4:05.22
MOTORCYCLES
Position rider, time
1 Price, KTM, 3h:39m.39s
2 Sunderland, KTM, 3:40.14
3 Quintanilla, Husqvarna, 3:40.48
4 Rodrigues, Yamaha, 3:53.47
5 Piatek, KTM, 3:54.55
6 Arana Cobeaga, Husqvarna, 3:55.27
7 Al Balooshi, KTM, 3:56.56
8 McBride, KTM, 4:00.42
9 Sanz, KTM, 4:05.32
10 Renet, Husqvarna, 4:09.16
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Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
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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.”
More on Quran memorisation:
THE DETAILS
Deadpool 2
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
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RESULTS
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