The welcome
My arrival is signalled by three chimes of the house gong. I’m sipping roselle juice within moments and warmly escorted through lush pathways by golf cart to my villa. We pass over a wooden bridge lit with burning torches. And it feels magical.
The neighbourhood
The resort sits on Mai Khao, Phuket’s longest beach – a national reserve kept free of vendors, beach chairs and motorised watercraft – and only 15 minutes from the airport. Other than a couple of neighbouring holiday properties and a small shopping village, the resort is quite isolated.
The room
The Sala Pool Villa is spacious (180 square metres) and decorated warmly with cream walls, dark woods and wicker accents. But the best bits are outside under a canopy of frangipani trees and behind the tall, wooden fence that affords complete privacy: the turquoise-tiled pool that lights up at night; the rain showers (one inside, one outside); the plunge bathtub situated inside the pool and entered via a sliding door in the bathroom; and the outdoor living room. Through a private door in the fence, a short, wooden staircase extends to a tented pavilion overlooking a lily-covered lagoon – the cushions make it the perfect place for an afternoon siesta.
The scene
As with most Anantara properties, the resort has taken great care to incorporate the natural surroundings. The clientele is mostly made up of couples, some with young children. But you don’t see a lot of the guests, owing to the comfort of the villas – it seems that I’m not alone in making the most of it. But there are activities that draw guests out: sunrise yoga, a table tennis tournament and a sunset bike ride complement the experience.
The service
The service seems effortless. The staff are aware of your needs, sometimes before you are. They are friendly, funny and switched on.
The food
The fish restaurant, Sea. Fire. Salt., boasts a salt sommelier, with 16 salt pairings on offer. The La Sala restaurant serves both a Thai and Italian menu. The classic Pad Thai with prawns (520 Thai baht [Dh61]) is a flavourful dish. For lighter fair, The Tree House (a lounge raised in the air and accessed by a spiral staircase wrapped around an old Banyan tree) serves Thai fusion tapas in the comfort of oversized, comfy white chairs. The spicy crab cakes with chilli and lime dressing (150 Thai baht [Dh18]) are especially noteworthy.
Loved
The Signature Massage at the Anantara Spa was exceptional.
Hated
With all the greenery comes insects, but the hotel takes care to provide repellent in the room. And a server even plied me with a few extra squirts of spray when I sat outside for dinner. But bugs will be bugs.
The verdict
For a quiet, luxurious escape, Anantara Phuket Villas doesn’t disappoint.
The bottom line
The Sala Pool Villa, including breakfast, excluding taxes, is 12,375 Thai baht (Dh1,449) per night. Phuket, Thailand, phuket.anantara.com; 0066 76 336 100.
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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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.