The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, one of Britain’s longest-established musical -institutions, is coming to the UAE for the first time next week. The CBSO will deliver two performances in the capital and Al Ain as part of the Abu Dhabi Classics international concert series.
For their December 15 debut, which marks Abu Dhabi’s hosting of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, the ensemble will play on a floating stage off the Corniche Breakwater with the Canadian violin soloist James Ehnes, who is among the best violinists of his generation.
In an exclusive interview with The National, Ehnes talks about making his UAE debut, and playing Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations and Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No 1, one of the most complex pieces of music ever written for the violin.
How are you feeling about your UAE debut?
This trip came as something of a nice surprise and the orchestra reached out to me a couple of months ago about availability for the concerts in the UAE. I jumped at the chance, as it’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for a while. In recent years, throughout the Middle East there has been an increased focus on western classical music, which I think is wonderful, as I believe the music is of great cultural significance and value to society.
You’ll be performing one of the most challenging violin concertos by the German composer Max Bruch. How do you expect it will be received?
Violin Concert No 1 has been one of the most enduringly popular violin concertos since it was written in the 1860s. It's something of a classical cornerstone so I think there's no better piece to give people an introduction to the world of the violin concertos. It's quite virtuosic, of course complex, and a lot of fun to play. You can revel in it. I grew up obsessing over the piece and I hope I can play it as well as I did last year [laughs].
You’ll be playing a priceless, 300-year old Marsick Stradivarius violin in Abu Dhabi. Is it likely to be affected by the heat, humidity and desert environment?
Well, yes, environment and climate – to a certain extent – can affect the way an instrument responds. But as a player you can adapt. The violin may feel somewhat different to play but hopefully it won’t sound any different. Antonio Stradivari was the great genius violinmaker and, despite its age, my violin remains an incredible instrument with an incredible range. It’s a joy to play on it musically and an honour for historical reasons. Performing outside sometimes has its challenges but personally I feel it adds to a fun atmosphere. I love playing surrounded by nature and outdoors and always take pleasure from it and, as a musician, if you don’t enjoy it, no one else will.
Do you foresee the CBSO’s Abu Dhabi tour becoming a regular calendar fixture?
I certainly hope so. I would love to think that the concerts will play some small part in continuing to develop the role of classical music in the region. I also feel a bit of a personal responsibility to people coming to the event, for whom the music may be new. I hope they will have an appetite for more of it.
• Tickets for the concert are available from www.ticketmaster.ae and start from Dh200 for adults and Dh30 for children. The CBSO tour is being held in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority and is part of the Abu Dhabi Classics season, which runs until May
rduane@thenational.ae
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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.”
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
