Watch: Burj Khalifa's New Year's Eve show live from Downtown Dubai

Thousands of people are set to descend on Downtown Dubai on Saturday to watch a breathtaking Burj Khalifa light show and fireworks display.

The world's tallest building is gearing up for a towering demonstration of pyrotechnics to usher in the New Year in stunning style.

The Burj Khalifa show is an annual highlight of the UAE's New Year's Eve festivities, drawing in vast crowds from within Dubai and beyond.

Members of the public are advised to get to Downtown Dubai early to make sure of a good spot to watch the entertainment unfold.

How to watch at home

Those who can't make the trip can still watch the action from home.

Emaar, the developer of Burj Khalifa, is broadcasting a live stream of the fireworks on its YouTube channel.

The stream started at 8.30pm.

According to Emaar, the New Year's Eve celebrations will be seen on television by a billion viewers around the world.

The light show aims to set a new world record for the largest laser display, while the light beams are set to travel the longest distance yet recorded.

How to watch in person

People are advised to make their way to Downtown Dubai early, with road closures in place from 4pm.

Al Asayel Street, Burj Khalifa Street, Financial Centre Street Lower Deck and Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard were closed at 4pm.

Parts of Al Mustaqbal Street were closed gradually from 4pm.

Al Sukook Street was closed at 8pm.

From 9pm, Financial Centre Street Upper Deck will also close to motorists.

Dubai's water canal elevators and pedestrian bridges will be closed in Al Safa and Business Bay areas.

The Executive Committee for Securing International and Local Events announced the fireworks displays would be in 32 locations in various areas of Dubai, to reduce overcrowding.

Getting to the Burj Khalifa

The committee identified three paths for members of the public to use to get to the Burj Khalifa area from nearby metro stations.

The first path is from Burj Khalifa station and will be divided into two parts, a section for families to the Al Jazeera Park area and the area behind the "Burj View". The second section will be for other groups and will lead to the "South Ridge", the area designated for watching fireworks.

The second path will be from Financial Centre station, where a section will be allocated for families heading to the Boulevard area, while the second section will be for other groups going to the South Edge area.

See how Burj Khalifa has been preparing for New Year's Eve

The third path will be for those coming from Business Bay station.

Burj Khalifa station and the metro bridge that connects to the Dubai Mall were set to be closed at 5pm, or when the numbers exceeded the capacity of the station.

The metro's green line will start operating at 5am on December 31 until midnight on January 2.

Dubai Tram will be in service from 6am on Saturday until 1am on Monday.

Free buses

To ease congestion and facilitate movement, authorities are providing 210 buses free of charge to transport people from events to nearby parking areas and metro stations.

Sheikh Zayed Road in the direction of the Financial Centre to take the public from Burj Khalifa metro station to Al Wasl Club, MAX Fashion metro station, and Deira City Centre
Sheikh Zayed Road heading to Abu Dhabi to take riders from Burj Khalifa metro station to Al Safa metro station
Financial Centre Road to the parking area of Al Wasl Club, Deira City Centre and the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs
Burj Khalifa Street heading to Deira City Centre metro station
Business Bay metro station along Sheikh Zayed Road to Deira City Centre metro station

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

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.”