DUBAI // If you thought rush-hour traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road or any road linking Dubai and Sharjah was crazy, think again.
This weekend, starting 2pm tomorrow, nearly 100 cars of the roaring and muscular sort will blaze around the 5.39-kilometre circuit at the Dubai Autodrome, running non-stop for 24 hours with the aim of crossing the finish line first in the 24H Dubai, the opening race of the seven-stop Creventic 24H Series.
“I did one in Mugello,” said Robert Kubica, the former Formula One driver, as he talked about the traffic on the circuit. “On the one side, it’s good fun and on the other side, it’s quite dangerous.
“There are a lot of run-off areas, so it’s quite a safe track here. But what everybody has to keep in mind is that the race is long and you often don’t have professional drivers behind the wheels. You have to keep that in mind.”
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Khaled Al Qubaisi, who will spearhead the Team Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon effort this weekend, inside a Mercedes AMG GT3, knows that better than most drivers here.
Winner of the 24H Dubai – his “home race” – in 2012 and 2013, he has suffered over the past three years because of “incidents and crashes”.
Last January, Al Qubaisi and his teammates were running in second when they made contact with the Attempto Porsche on Lap 119 as the Abu Dhabi Racing car attempted to overtake it, forcing them to retire.
They were forced to retire in 2015 too following an incident with a slower car, so Al Qubaisi is not very comfortable with the idea of seeing so many cars on the grid.
“The traffic here is very, very tough,” said Al Qubaisi, who will be sharing driving duties with Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen and the German duo of Patrick Assenheimer and Manuel Metzger.
“The main challenge actually with the 24H Dubai is managing the traffic and staying out of trouble, and it’s very hard to do that while you are racing and competing with a lot of top teams.
“We need to find the right balance between that and taking risks and hope to stay out of trouble.”
Al Qubaisi, who finished third in 2014 despite technical issues with the car, would prefer to see a reduction in the number of cars on the grid. He also suggested a couple of other measures to make sure only the best and fastest compete.
“The organisation has set a limit of 100 cars, but I think that is way too high for a race like this one, on such a track,” he said. “I think 70 cars is a good number. They could take one of the lowest category of cars out because I think they are too slow. Also, they could regulate the drivers a little bit to ensure their pace is within acceptable limits.
“It’s very hard sometimes to forecast who is in the cars, and whether he is good or not. You might take a risk and end up like we did last year, going out.”
Keen to avoid a repeat of last year, Al Qubaisi, who will be making his seventh appearance in the 24H Dubai, added: “It’s a home race, a very special race for us. It would be great to finish it, and, hopefully, finish it in first.”
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
RESULTS
6.30pm: Emirates Holidays Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Lady Snazz, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Arabian Adventures Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Zhou Storm, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7.40pm: Emirates Skywards Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Rich And Famous, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.15pm: Emirates Airline Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Rio Angie, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Emirates Sky Cargo (TB) Dh 92,500 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Kinver Edge, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
9.15pm: Emirates.com (TB) Dh 95,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Firnas, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
Analysis
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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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