Dubai RTA will launch four new bus routes in the emirate from November 18, including a temporary service that will connect Ibn Battuta bus station with Al Maktoum International Airport.
The new DWC1 route, which will only run until December 20, will operate 24 hours a day to the airport's arrivals area every 30 minutes, and pass through Expo 2020 Station.
The RTA said there will be a fixed fee of Dh5 for any trip to Expo 2020 station and Dh7.50 for the full journey.
A new metro link bus service — route F29 — will start next month, between Equiti Metro Station (Umm Al Sheif) and Al Wasl Road, running every 20 minutes.
The RTA will also launch a new bus service — route 18 — connecting residential communities Al Nahda 1 and Al Muhaisnah 4, which will only operate every 20 minutes during peak hours.
The fourth new service to start next month will connect residential communities Al Nahda 1 and Al Qusais, which will also operate during peak hours only, at a frequency of 20 minutes.
The RTA also plans to modify seven existing services in the emirate.
Route F10 will be extended to Dubai Safari Park.
Route F20 will be extended from Al Safa Metro Station northward to pass by Al Wasl Road.
Route F30 will be extended to Dubai Studio City.
Route F32 will be extended to Mudon.
Route F50 will be extended from Dubai Investments Park to pass by Gulf News.
Route F53 will be extended to Dubai Industrial City.
Route F55 will be extended to reach Expo 2020 Metro Station. After December 20, 2022, this route will no longer commute to Ibn Battuta Station.
On November 18, RTA will also make amendments to the timetables of 48 other routes: 5, 11A, 12, 15, 17, 21, 24, 30, 32C, 44, 50, 55, 61, 63E, 64, 66, 67, 84, 91, 95A, 96, 310, 320, C01, C04, C09 C18, C26, C28, DWC1, E16, E400, E411, F01, F15, F26, F20, F21, F29, F33, F47, F48, J01, N55, X25. X64, X92 and X94.
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Rating: 4/5
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
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Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
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The details
Colette
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Keira Knightley, Dominic West
Our take: 3/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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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Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
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