DUBAI // Chris Gregory, the Dubai Hurricanes captain, has lived through the bad times of Arabian Gulf rugby. For many of the region's top players, the embarrassment of a hefty defeat to New Zealand at the 2006 Dubai Rugby Sevens was more than enough. Enough humiliation at the hands of highly-trained professional players in front of your mates and a few thousands other people. Enough pain. Some of the Gulf's top rugby players made themselves unavailable for international selection after the bleak times, and settled back into the relaxed climes of club rugby. Gregory played on, and witnessed first-hand the revival of the region's elite side. He said failing to win a match at last weekend's World Cup Sevens hurt far more than any of the drubbings of the past, because of the journey the side had made to get there. "The expectations are so much higher now," he said. "It was still a great honour to play for the Gulf before, and we would go out and do as well as possible, but now we go out there with more pride, and more expectations. "When you don't meet those expectations the pain is a lot more heartfelt. You can see it in the guys faces. Before we would say things like, 'Oh, do you remember that tackle I did?' "Now defeat is so much more disappointing. We really should have won against Italy [when the Gulf conceded a decisive, stoppage time try in the pool stage of the World Cup], but it was more enjoyable than it has been." Now, a week on from playing in front of 32,000 people in a home World Cup, Gregory is lost without his Gulf teammates. "This week has been massive come down," added Gregory, who will return to the humdrum of the club scene today when he leads out the Hurricanes against their city rivals, the Dragons in a Super Five tie. "It has been really depressing getting back to the reality of work and I don't know what to do with myself in the evenings now." The Asian Five Nations Division One, a week-long tournament to be played in Dubai next month, cannot come soon enough. Gregory says the prospect of furthering his days with Gulf rugby is "an excuse to stay in the country". He said: "We'll never be as prepared again as we were for the World Cup, but now people have taken this to heart and they want to carry it on. "People have always talked about leaving, and now rugby is an excuse to stay in the country. "Work have been fantastic giving me the time off, and now I have the desire to keep playing for the country." pradley@thenational.ae
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Director: Eli Roth
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Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
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Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
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India: Kohli (c), Rahul, Shaw, Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, Vihari, Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Shami, Umesh, Siraj, Thakur
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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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The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
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Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
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Asian Champions League, last 16, first leg:
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Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
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