DUBAI // Michael Schumacher will not be completing a victory lap "certainly not as a Formula One driver," he said.
"Yes I may come back here to the race to watch it, but not to drive it. Not unless it's a fun motorbike race." The seven-time F1 world champion was in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this week to reveal the plans for a foray into the less sporty realm of real estate. Yesterday he unveiled the model for the Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower during the Citiscape exhibition.
Although he made a brief walk back into the limelight to introduce the project, the racer said he valued his private life and freedom from the public eye. He insists there is life after Formula One. "I'm still alive, absolutely." Since retiring from the circuit in 2006 as one of the most statistically successful racers in the sport's history, Schumacher said he has stayed involved with F1. "I'm still enrolled in the background," he said. "At some of the races I go simply to see how the team functions, to supervise and offer advice in order to keep our winning spirit." Schumacher is also still involved as an ambassador of Ferrari, the iconic red car that carried him to multiple victories.
He also has advice for the track under construction on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi: create a track that will have long-term appeal by turning it into a talking point. "I hope that they build with the knowledge of what F1 really needs," he said. "You can make a beautiful circuit but then, as a driver, or as a show afterwards, it won't function. There are some principles that people have to look into and follow."
Between the races in Bahrain, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, Schumacher said he had no doubt of the sport's growth in Asia and the Middle East. "Asia and the nearby region has certainly a lot more potential to develop because if you look at how many race tracks exist in the regions, there are far less than in Europe," he said. "Asia and the near east are in a position to afford (new race tracks and races." Of course, holding an F1 race is not an altruistic endeavour.
"F1 is an investment strategy that increases the knowlege of the country, that is, the ability to be known as a country, quite dramatically. It is why you see places like Bahrain and Abu Dhabi hosting races because they want to have people coming over to visit the country." Meanwhile, the Canadian Grand Prix has been dropped from the Formula One calendar for the 2009 season. The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris yesterday and decided to go ahead with a programme with no races in North America.
The addition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix means the season remains 18 races long. The calendar also allows for a summer break as the Turkish GP has moved from August to June while the British Grand Prix is scheduled for one last time at Silverstone on June 21.
The 2009 F1 calendar: Australia - March 29; Malaysia - April 5; Bahrain - April 9; Spain - May 10; Monaco - May 24; Turkey - June 7; Great Britain - June 21; France - June 28; Germany - July 12; Hungary - July 26; Valencia - Aug 23; Belgium - Aug 30; Italy - Sept 13; Singapore - Sept 27; Japan - Oct 11; China - Oct 18; Brazil - Nov 1; Abu Dhabi - Nov 15
jgerson@thenational.ae
Schumacher's fact file
• Born: January 3, 1969
• A seven-time world champion
• The only German to win the World championship
• He is the only driver to have an entire season of podium finishes
• Teams: Benetton (1992-95), Ferrari (1996-2006)
• Championship titles: 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
• Consecutive titles: 5 (2000-2004)
• Race victories: 91
• Consecutive wins: 7 (2004, Europe-Hungary)
• Record wins with one team: 72 (Ferrari)
• Most successful GP: 8 (France)
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.”
The specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
