The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
In a sprawling Dubai retail landscape dominated by mega malls and shiny designer outlets, a quaint and cozy 'corner shop' vibe can make for a refreshing change.
Visitors to a small independent music shop off Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Road often said it felt like it belonged in a sleepy English village from a bygone era.
That is because the 73-year-old owner, Carolyn Belsey Morton, has very much designed it that way.
The Music Room has been a staple of the Jumeirah Beach Centre since 2001, becoming a mainstay during a period of remarkable change for the emirate.
While it would be easy to say the shop is one of Dubai’s best-kept secrets, it has also established a cult following, especially among music teachers in the emirate.
“A lot of customers like to come into the store that feels like a corner shop in a little town in England,” said Ms Belsey Morton.
“It doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t buy something, being able to wander around and browse without being hassled is the whole point of a community music shop.”
Having first moved to the UAE in 1977, Ms Belsey Morton said she has seen many changes in her time in the emirates.
“When I first moved to Dubai you knew everybody. It was like a village then when the country was just six years old,” she reminisces.
It saddens her to see people giving up traditional ways. Life is fast-paced now and people live in their own cocoon but at The Music Room she invites people into the store and chat away as they leisurely browse through the instruments.
The shop has established a loyal following, especially among music teachers in the emirate.
“It’s unlikely you will find a music teacher in Dubai who isn’t aware of us,” she said.
“So many music teachers come here.”
The idea to start The Music Room came to Ms Belsey Morton when she was looking for a break from teaching music in Dubai.
“As a music teacher, at the time, I was aware of how difficult it was to buy music equipment here and most of it had to be ordered from the UK,” she said.
“I looked into it and thought of starting a music shop as I had the right background.”
The best-selling product at the store is sheet music but she also does brisk business by selling clarinets, string instruments, saxophones, recorders and pianos.
Her regular clients are pupils and teachers from British curriculum schools in the country who buy sheet music that is part of the syllabus each year.
“We are privileged here in Dubai because so many schools are private and they all have thriving music departments,” she said.
Ms Belsey Morton said her store harks back to an age when one could find music shops on most UK high streets. This is before the rise of the Internet, which eventually led to them becoming as easy to find as the proverbial hen’s tooth.
When I first moved to Dubai you knew everybody. It was like a village then when the country was just six years old
She has kept shopping personal and simple like in the good old days. There is no option of click-to-buy on her website and that’s her USP.
“In England, the Internet is killing local music shops,” she said.
“People like the fact that they can make a list, pick up the phone and call us to get what they want.”
Ordering musical sheets in bulk and equipment from the UK to Dubai can be extremely expensive and often unreliable and Ms Belsey Morton fills in the gap by offering a personal touch to the shoppers’ experience.
Ms Belsey Morton also runs a small-scale manufacturing business from the music shop, helping generate revenue during the lean months.
One of the biggest problems with ordering sheet music in bulk to accommodate schools’ curriculums is that any unsold stock becomes irrelevant at the end of the academic year, she said.
“The books are obsolete the minute the exam syllabus changes,” she said.
“It gets very quiet in July as the schools are closed and there are a lot of books we can’t sell, especially the exam papers and revision books.
“What we do is make gift bags out of the unsold sheet music. It’s a bit of a cottage industry,” she said.
Results:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 2,410m | Winner: Bin Battuta, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer)
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m | Winner: Al Hayette, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m | Winner: Faatinah, Jim Crowley, David Hayes
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m | Winner: Raven’s Corner, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m | Winner: Dream Castle, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m | Winner: Another Batt, Connor Beasley, George Scott
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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.”
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
FA Cup fifth round draw
Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
Reading/Cardiff City v Sheffield United
Chelsea v Shrewsbury Town/Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United/Oxford United
Leicester City v Coventry City/Birmingham City
Northampton Town/Derby County v Manchester United
Southampton/Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City
Portsmouth v Arsenal
Scores in brief:
Day 1
New Zealand (1st innings) 153 all out (66.3 overs) - Williamson 63, Nicholls 28, Yasir 3-54, Haris 2-11, Abbas 2-13, Hasan 2-38
Pakistan (1st innings) 59-2 (23 overs)
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
