When Tripti Purewal lost her job in May and fell into despair, her friends urged her to find a creative outlet.
They knew she found solace in art. While she had no plans to leave Dubai, her home of 16 years, uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic loomed.
“Nothing was certain. But they said: ‘You keep going, you get creative’,” said Ms Purewal, 42, a former production manager from Ambala, India.
“Covid has caused a lot of depression and loneliness in people. I felt I was slipping into a very dark zone and I had three friends of mine who told me, ‘Tripti, you’re creative, why don’t you start something of your own?’”
Even though I may not know the person, I'm putting a lot of love into every piece
Ms Purewal has sewed since the age of four. Her wardrobe is filled with the clothes she has tailored, and the walls of her home are covered with abstract paintings by her father and Indian miniatures she made during her masters in art.
So when her friends asked for masks, she threaded the needle of her sewing machine and got to work, creating bright creations ranging from cottage florals to camouflage and masks with stylised names in Hindi and English.
A few days later, a stranger in a lift complimented the mask she wore and placed an order on the spot.
Ms Purewal made 250 masks in the first 40 days, with requests coming by word of mouth and through social media.
Masks are mandatory in public in the UAE and as people adjust to the pandemic, a growing number are turning to layered cloth masks, as recommended by the World Health Organisation, to avoid excess waste and to protect themselves with style.
Ms Purewal plans to make masks as long as there is a need.
“Literally I have no life since the 16th of June,” she said. “I’ve just been making masks.”
Each three layer mask takes 30 to 40 minutes to sew and has a layer of Indian cotton and a layer of polyester blend, as recommended by the WHO.
“Even though I may not know the person, I’m putting a lot of love into every piece,” she said.
“With the last job, I didn’t have anything creative, it was more production and quality checking. I had actually started to feel that I’m losing touch with my creative side.”
The experience has reignited her desire to pursue a PhD in art.
Ms Purewal hopes her story will inspire others going through difficult times.
“I don’t know what situation others are in. But the way I live my life is, every day I wake up is a new day for me. I don’t carry anything negative from the previous day to the next. So I will not waste a day thinking about what will happen tomorrow because I haven’t seen tomorrow yet.”
Her masks cost Dh25 to Dh30 and can be ordered through her Instagram account @artistandcreations.
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.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
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2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
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2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
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2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
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