This former Jane does not wish to be identified, but she told M her story, which is typical of the Jane Drain.
"We moved to Dubai from the UK in 2004. My husband works as a project manager in construction. We came from Sevenoaks [35km south-east of London], where I had worked as an administrative assistant at a dentist's surgery. My husband was headhunted by a big property company to oversee the building of several residential blocks and a pool and shopping complex.
The company found us a villa on a side street off Jumeirah Beach Road. Our two boys, aged six and eight, were enrolled in the Gems Academy. We had a maid, a driver and a part-time gardener.
I suppose looking back on it I was a bit like a kid in a sweet shop. I went from a working-class existence to having the kind of life I used to read about in Hello! magazine. Before I moved to Dubai I had never had a manicure.
By 2006 I had gone truly native, and by that I mean native to Jumeirah. I even had surgery - liposuction - to make me feel more like the other ladies I lunched with, who were all thinner than me. There was competition between us, but we had a lot of fun, meeting for coffee and showing off the latest handbag. All my friends were into tennis so I got a coach as well. I didn't want to miss out. I got quite good at it: well you would, wouldn't you, if you had time to play three times a week.
Sometimes when I was walking off court in my Juicy Couture tracksuit, sun visor, manicured nails and perfectly highlighted hair I would have a moment of looking in on myself, rather like I was watching myself in a movie, and I liked what I saw, I really did. I felt I had arrived.
My husband lost his job in December 2008. It was a real shock. They said they were in the final stages of the project and could manage without him. We were desperate not to go back to the UK so he started looking for work and at the same time set up on his own as a freelance consultant. He had three months' money, so we were fine for a bit. Then we had to sell my car: well, there was no need for two great big cars any more. The driver, of course, went with the job, so he was gone. We kept the maid but had to let the gardener go.
I started to feel uncomfortable hanging out with the others. I couldn't really afford the life we had together any more. But they were my friends and without them I was alone. I admit that I had lost touch with a lot of my friends from back home because we didn't really have anything in common any more. They would have laughed at my liposuction and the new high-maintenance me.
I knew things were getting dire when my husband asked me to go out and get a job. I went to a few clothes shops I used to buy stuff from to see if they needed anyone. No one seemed very keen on hiring an ex-Jumeirah Jane. They were a lot less happy to see me without my gold credit card.
In July this year we left and went back to Sevenoaks. Looking back on it now I suppose I did turn into a bit of a classic Jane. "Deeply superficial" was how one of my friends back home put it. I have a job in a local nursery school, my nails are chipped and I no longer know one end of a designer handbag from another. That person seems like a different lady. I am more grounded now; actually, I suppose I am just back to what I was before my stint as a Jumeirah Jane. The good news is, out of a group of eight core women, six of us are now back here or on our way back.
But often, when the weather's grey and the children are arguing, I think back to our time in Dubai. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss it. Being a Jumeirah Jane was great fun, and I'm really glad I had the chance to be one. At least I can say I lived the dream, even if I eventually had to wake up and make my own coffee."
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
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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Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pakistan squad
Sarfraz (c), Zaman, Imam, Masood, Azam, Malik, Asif, Sohail, Shadab, Nawaz, Ashraf, Hasan, Amir, Junaid, Shinwari and Afridi
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 (Gundogan 56')
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Solomon 69')
Short-term let permits explained
Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Founder: Ayman Badawi
Date started: Test product September 2016, paid launch January 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software
Size: Seven employees
Funding: $170,000 in angel investment
Funders: friends
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Handicap | US$135,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
7.05pm: Handicap | $135,000 (Turf) | 1,200m
7.40pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (T) | 2,000m
8.15pm: UAE Oaks | Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,900m
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile | Group 2 | $250,000 (T) | 1,600m
9.20pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
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