Northern Emirates residents expect the Sheikh Khalifa Specialised Hospital to improve health care. Lee Hoagland / The National
Northern Emirates residents expect the Sheikh Khalifa Specialised Hospital to improve health care. Lee Hoagland / The National
Northern Emirates residents expect the Sheikh Khalifa Specialised Hospital to improve health care. Lee Hoagland / The National
Northern Emirates residents expect the Sheikh Khalifa Specialised Hospital to improve health care. Lee Hoagland / The National

Health

Welcome for investment but residents will be the judges

RAK resident Umm Ibrahim believes the Northern Emirates is lagging when it comes to healthcare offerings and the standard of service. 

Anam Rizvi
Jennifer Bell
UAE

October 22, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Umm Ibrahim is expecting her fifth child but will not give birth in the Northern Emirates as she did for her previous pregnancies because of a bad experience.

Born and raised in Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Ibrahim believes the Northern Emirates are behind Abu Dhabi and Dubai when it comes to healthcare offerings and the standard of service. “I have given birth to four children in RAK, but this time I am definitely not going to have my delivery here,” said the 36-year-old who has a 12-year-old daughter and three sons aged 10, 8 and 6.

During one pregnancy, Umm Ibrahim was living in Abu Dhabi as her husband, who is employed in the oil industry, worked there. She had travelled to RAK to meet her family when her waters broke.

“My family advised me not to travel to Abu Dhabi and so I went to Saqr Hospital, a government hospital in RAK,” she said. “The reception was unlike what I had seen in Abu Dhabi. The delivery was fine and I did not have any complications but the facility, bedding or environment were not satisfactory.”

During another pregnancy, Umm Ibrahim said she was forced to endure lengthy delays when she attended pre-natal check-ups.

“I would have to wait for hours as the government hospital was very crowded,” she said. “When I finally met the doctor, she would check the vital signs and I would only get five minutes. There was no time to ask questions.” While new hospitals are being built in the Northern Emirates, Umm Ibrahim said there are gaps in the service they offer.

She highlighted one private hospital in RAK, which she described as a “five-star service”, but which did not have a female ultrasonologist on staff.

“I was not comfortable going to a male ultrasonologist and I had to go back to Saqr Hospital.”

Now that Umm Ibrahim is having her fifth baby, she is going to go to the American Hospital in Dubai. “I tried the new hospital in Umm Al Quwain before heading to Dubai. They are new and have a limited number of doctors,” she said.

“When I called for an appointment, I got one after two months. Then, I was told I would need to go there three times in a month for separate check-ups, tests, and an ultrasound. Travelling that much was not a possibility.

“My family and many people say that the care situation is improving in the Northern Emirates but I am not sure.”

However, Umm Ibrahim is looking forward to the opening of the Sheikh Khalifa Specialised Hospital and said the facility will bring vast improvements to health care in the Northern Emirates. “The new hospital coming up should change things as it is huge. This is a very happy news for residents. It will be a proper hospital.”

jbell@thenational.ae

arizvi2@thenational.ae

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 bio

Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home

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Key figures in the life of the fort

Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.

Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.

Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae

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