Emirati business magnate Khalaf Al Habtoor has pledged his support to Dubai Police's crime-fighting drive by donating 100 cars to its impressive fleet.
The billionaire tycoon, founder and chairman of Al Habtoor Group, supplied the collection of Mitsubishi Pajero SUVs in appreciation of the force's efforts to protect the public.
Dubai Police shared striking pictures of the new patrol cars lined up outside Habtoor Palace in Downtown Dubai.
Mr Al Habtoor said he believed it was his duty to support the work of the police.
“Dubai is blessed with a high standard of safety and security, and I believe it is my social responsibility to join hands with the government to serve my country and its people,” he said.
“I am proud and happy to partner with Dubai Police in enhancing the sense of safety in our country.”
The prominent businessman was thanked for his gesture by Lt Gen Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, commander-in-chief of Dubai Police.
Lt Gen Al Marri said the vehicles would be a key addition to the force's patrols.
“Khalaf Al Habtoor is one of the distinguished personalities in the UAE,” he said.
“He has been contributing to the development of the emirates since their union with his charitable spirit and left his marks in many fields to serve the community and its people.”
In April, Mr Al Habtoor donated Dh10 million ($2.7m) to the UAE's One Billion Meals campaign.
The contribution covered the cost of essential food items.
Food packages from the initiative, containing staples such as flour, rice, oil, sugar and dates, were distributed to needy people around the world.
In March, Dubai Police announced plans to add 400 patrol cars to their existing fleet.
The Ghiath smart patrol vehicles, costing a total of Dh196 million ($53.3m), will be introduced over the next five years.
Earlier this month, Dubai Police took delivery of their first electric vehicle, a Hongqi E-HS9.
The E-HS9, the first SUV of the Hongqi brand, can go from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in five seconds. It has a range of approximately 440km and can be fully charged from flat in six to eight hours.
Dubai Police's supercar squad includes Mercedes, Maseratis, Aston Martins and Cadillacs.
Supercars in the white and green of Dubai Police are often seen at national events such as the Dubai Marathon, cycling's UAE Tour, and other parades and celebrations.
New patrol vehicles to hit the road in Dubai - in pictures
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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Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
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