Dubai Police unveil electric sports car on road to Cop 28

Dubai Police have added an electric sports car to their luxury fleet, to help the emirate move into the fast lane on the road to the Cop 28 climate summit.

The Audi RS e-tron GT in Dubai Police livery was shown to the public for the first time on the opening day of the Arabian Travel Market conference.

It will be used to patrol popular tourist destinations across the city.

The vehicle is the first sports car in the Dubai Police fleet that is completely electric, a member of the force told The National at the unveiling.

The car costs about $110,000 (Dh404,000) and has a top speed of 249kph. It can reach 96.5kph in 4.3 seconds from a standing start.

“It’s special to us because it’s the first all-electric sports vehicle we have,” said Lt Mohamed Ebrahim Al Suwaidi.

“You will never have found a police car on the roads like this until now.

“It will be used to patrol tourist areas where police can be on hand to help people.”

The car will carry a special message on its number plate to signify the climate event taking place in Dubai later this year.

“The number plate is 28, which stands for Cop 28 which Dubai is hosting,” said Lt Al Suwaidi.

The theme of this year’s Arabian Travel Market is sustainability, making the conference at Dubai World Trade Centre an apt venue to launch the car, he said.

“Using electric vehicles is very important to us because it shows we are supporting the environment,” he said.

While the new addition is the first all-electric sports vehicle to join Dubai Police’s fleet, it is not the first completely electric car in the ranks.

The force took delivery of a Hongqi E-HS9 SUV in October last year.

Dubai Police's supercar fleet includes Maseratis, Aston Martins, Mercedes and Cadillacs.

Supercars in the green and white of Dubai Police are common sights at national events including the UAE Tour for cyclists, the Dubai Marathon and other celebrations and parades.

Cop 28 will be held at Expo City Dubai from November 30 to December 12.

Dubai Police's supercar fleet - 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.”