UK weather: Glasgow airport closes as snow sweeps across UK

Heavy snow has disrupted travel in central Scotland and forced the temporary closure of Glasgow Airport.

Up to 10cm of snow could accumulate in some places in less than three hours, while travel delays and power cuts are likely.

Much of Scotland is the subject of yellow warnings for snow and ice, including Shetland where there has been no power for thousands of homes since Monday. Warnings for Wales begin on Saturday and for England on Sunday.

The Scottish Government declared a major incident for Shetland on Tuesday but by Friday many on the island were still without power.

Snow has affected many major roads, Traffic Scotland said on Friday. It urged people to drive with care.

Glasgow airport tweeted: “Three hours of heavy snow, intermittent rainfall and ground temperatures well below freezing have created very challenging conditions on our airfield.

Snow covers the cars and roads in a residential area of Glasgow. PA

“Our winter teams are working extremely hard in these difficult conditions to resume operations, but only when it is safe to do so.

“Our runway was cleared for operation shortly after 11.30am and we are now working with our airline partners to help resume their flight schedules.”

Teams from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution reconnected about 750 homes and businesses in parts of western mainland Shetland, Voe and Brae, on Thursday.

Mark Macdonald, regional head at SSEN Distribution, said: "I'd like to thank customers for their ongoing patience and reassure them that we're making every effort to restore supplies as soon as possible and provide support to those who need it.

"Armies of engineers have descended upon Shetland over the past 48 hours to restore power to homes and businesses across the islands, and more are on their way.

"We've made significant progress today in continued challenging conditions, reconnecting 750 homes across the islands."

Heavy snowfall in London in pictures

An amber weather warning was in force until midday on Friday, covering central Scotland as well as parts of Fife, Perth and Kinross, South Lanarkshire and Argyll and Bute.

Yellow warnings for snow and ice continue into Sunday. Similar warnings are in place for north-west England and west Wales.

On Sunday, the warnings will apply to large parts of England.

Snow blankets the UK - video

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

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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.”

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent