DUBAI // The UAE are looking forward to a more concerted bid for a place in the Davis Cup’s Group II next year after failing to take their chances at home this week.
The UAE blanked neighbours Oman 3-0 in their first tie of the relegation play-offs on Saturday night to keep their place in Group III of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania region, but the hosts had the opportunity to make it to the promotion play-offs after a winning start to their group campaign.
They beat Pacific Oceania 2-1 in their opening Pool B tie and were just two games away from booking their place in the promotion play-offs as Omar Al Awadhy led Cambodia’s Kenny Bun 6-4, 4-2 after Hamad Al Janahi had won the opening singles.
Al Awadhy then picked up a side strain and, severely hampered by the injury, went on to lose the match.
Cambodia then took the doubles to dash UAE’s hopes.
The UAE also had their chances in their final group game against Vietnam but lost 3-0.
Al Awadhy regretted not being able to help his team’s cause, though he continued to play with the injury and beat Oman’s Khalid Al Nabhani 6-3, 6-1 in Saturday’s second singles after Al Janahi had defeated Mohammed Al Nabhani 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 in the opening match.
“I feel disappointed that I have not been able to produce my best tennis and help my country,” Al Awadhy said. “I have been playing at less than 70 per cent because of the injury.
“But still, there are a lot of positives we can take from here. These matches have shown that there is not a big difference between us and the Vietnams and Malaysias.
“More importantly, we know what we need to do against these opponents.
“So when the next round is played in April, I believe we will be ready and we will be a much stronger side.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
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Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
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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