In the short story Birth of a New School, Ernest Hemingway - "Hem" to his fans, like me - describes the frustrations of trying to write in a public place. I increasingly sympathise.
He was working in one of the grand cafe-bistros of Paris in the golden 1920s; I'm trying it in the Dome cafe in the DIFC.
Just as it was all going well for Hem ("you knew your luck was there") he would be disturbed: "Then you'd hear someone say: 'Hi Hem, what are you trying to do? Write in a cafe?'"
Try as he might after that, the spell was broken and he had to stop. "Your luck had run out and you shut the notebook."
Now I'm not comparing myself to Hemingway, by any means. There are obvious differences: I don't much like bullfighting, have never been a war correspondent, and it doesn't look as though that Nobel prize for literature is ever coming my way.
But I too feel my luck has run out whenever I see somebody come into the Dome with an iPad, sit down at a table and plug in earphones. You know that in the next few minutes any chance you had of quiet concentration will be gone as you're forced to listen to one side of a Skype conversation.
The annoying phenomenon has become increasingly common lately, I guess as more and more people have iPads. But do they really have to sit there and shout at them?
One Dome customer recently stopped the whole cafe by having a major argument with somebody via Skype.
His conversation became more and more animated until he broke out into a loud stream of Anglo-Saxon that made everybody drop their own conversations and turn to stare at the cause of the outburst. Poor Jennifer the waitress blushed crimson.
Hemingway would probably have punched the offender on the nose and walked out of the cafe, but that's another way in which he and I differ. I just sit there and tut-tut, hoping the iPad-shouter will be embarrassed into leaving.
It won't drive me out of the Dome. The staff are too nice to me and it's too convenient. But I'll have to take measures.
Hem carried a rabbit's foot in his pocket to make sure the luck continued. I'm going to carry ear-plugs.
***
The other reason for staying at the Dome is, in the motto of the late, lamented British newspaper the News of the World, "all human life is there".
You get to know the regulars, and can spot the trysts, corporate or personal, that are being hatched on the terrace of the DIFC. And you see the human side of business.
One senior market executive regularly has a smoke break from the office, and we often chat. He is having a new house built out near Nad Al Sheba, and wants to give it the authenticity of a traditional Emirati family home and villa.
He explained to me how, in what he regarded as an investment coup, he recently paid Dh20,000 (US$5,445) for an olive tree that would become the focal point of the garden square at the centre of the house.
This is no ordinary tree. It is 300 years old and is worth much more on the open market.
Whatever next? Olive tree futures?
fkane@thenational.ae
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Director: Magizh Thirumeni
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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.”
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
Saturday's results
West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley
Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm