The secretary general of the UAE Rugby Federation has told rugby administrators not to underestimate the sport’s standing in the Middle East.
Mohammed Al Zaabi was responding to comments made by the head of the United Rugby Championship, a league which involves professional sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales.
Speaking to media in the UK earlier this month, Martin Anayi, the chief executive of the URC, said the competition’s new sponsorship agreement with Qatar Airways can help create a legacy for the sport in the region.
“What they can take from a partnership with a rugby competition is that we stand for great values and stand for championing those values,” Anayi was quoted as saying in the Irish Times.
“They are about legacy post Fifa World Cup in December. What do they do after that and can rugby and its values be part of that conversation going forward. Rugby has never been that in Qatar and the Middle East.
“I think rugby and western values around rugby especially are more pertinent than ever in the Middle East.
“And they are open to having those conversations around progress and sport is a big part of that conversation of how they progress, how they’re seen to be progressive, and I hope we can be part of that.”
Al Zaabi disputes the idea that rugby has never been part of the sporting landscape in the region.
“Talking about creating a legacy for rugby in the Middle East underestimates our history,” Al Zaabi said. “If you are talking about rugby in the Middle East, there was a match at a stadium in Alexandria between New Zealand Forces and a rest of Egypt side in 1943.
“Here, the Dubai Sevens has been going for more than 50 years, and it is bigger that the Sevens World Cup – and even that tournament was hosted in Dubai in 2009.
“It is the biggest sevens competition in the world, with more than 40,000 spectators [per day] and over 300 teams from all over the world.
“So if you want to talk about legacy, please don’t underestimate ours. We have created that through our partnership with Emirates, who are one of the biggest supporters of rugby in the world.
“We need to protect our legacy. Don’t mention legacy and forget UAE and Dubai. What is the legacy they want to invent?”
To support his position, Al Zaabi points out there are clubs regularly playing recreational rugby in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah, as well as Dubai.
He points to the fact rugby is part of the PE curriculum in Emirati schools, which – pre-Covid – saw 120,000 children given a chance to try rugby. He also says the federation is proud of their success in bringing Emirati female players to the sport.
In November, there are plans to stage the third leg of the Asia Sevens Series in Ajman, an Emirate which has been without rugby until now, in either a converted football or multi-sport stadium.
In the same month, Dubai will host a tournament involving Portugal, USA, Hong Kong and Kenya that will decide the final qualifier for the next 15-a-side World Cup.
“What else do we need to build?” Al Zaabi said. “It is fine if you want to focus on your own partnership with anyone – whether it be Qatar, Saudi, it doesn’t matter. We are all brothers, the same culture.
“But don’t jump on other people’s efforts, and the work other unions have done. Don’t say you want to create a legacy. The legacy has already been created here in UAE and North Africa.”
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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