DUBAI // When Ashok Bakshi arrived in Dubai more than 25 years ago, he could never have known that he would play a key role in founding one of the oldest golf clubs in the emirate.
Bakshi, aged 75, one of the most respected amateur golfers in Dubai, died of a heart attack on January 28 while practising for the annual Omega Dubai Desert Classic pro-am tournament at the Emirates Golf Club.
Christopher May, chief executive of Dubai Golf, said Bakshi was a founding member of the club and was a popular club captain from 2002 to 2003.
Dubai Golf manages Emirates Golf Club, the first all-grass championship golf course in the Middle East which opened in 1988, and Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club.
“Ashok was one of the longest-standing suppliers to the Pro Shop at the club, and there was never a request which he could not deliver, no matter how last minute, or how big or small,” said Mr May.
Bakshi was also a former vice-president of business development at Jumbo Electronics Dubai from 1981 to 1996, and had been a partner at Aztec Trading since 1998 until his death.
His colleagues, friends and relatives described him as a man of action.
Whenever Bakshi was at the club he always had a smile on his face, said Mr May. “He was a kind and generous man who always had a great relationship with all my colleagues at the club. He was always polite and treated them well,” Mr May said. “He will be missed by everyone at the club.”
In recent years Bakshi spent much of his time passing his love of golf on to his grandson. They played many rounds and spent time together on the Par 3 course and The Majlis, his favourite course.
“My son wouldn’t be able to play without his motivation, he looked up to him for everything,” said daughter-in-law Sonia Bakshi.
When Bakshi came to Dubai he started working with the late Manu Chhabria’s Jumbo Electronics in Abu Dhabi.
“My father-in-law motivated and inspired the family to games, education and setting up businesses in Dubai,” said Mrs Bakshi, a Dubai resident of 23 years. He graduated from St Xavier’s College in Mumbai in 1963 with a bachelor of commerce degree and went to work as a sales executive for an aluminium manufacturer until 1969.
He then worked as an assistant manager at Eid Parry, Murugappa Group, until 1971.
Bakshi, who completed his education in India, also worked in Delhi.
At Cadbury India, he was the company’s regional manager for North India for a decade until 1981 before migrating to the UAE that year.
His friends and relatives have been flocking to his family home to pay tribute to him, according to Mrs Bakshi.
“I have been friends with Ashok for the last 30 years and we played together so many times,” said Surender Singh Kandhari, chairman of Al Dobowi Group in Dubai.
“We organised events and set up the Indian Golfers Society Dubai together. That brought the Indian golf community together. We promoted the Indian golf tournaments at the Emirates Golf Club, which was a very important activity.”
Bakshi is survived by his wife Shashi, son Manish, daughter Meghna, as well as four grandchildren.
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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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Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
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