DUBAI // Emirates Environmental Group launched its 13th annual Clean Up UAE campaign and aims this year to involve more than 110,000 participants in nationwide environmental activities.
The campaign has garnered more support this year from Government sponsors, including municipalities and the main environmental agencies from all seven emirates, and private company sponsors including McDonald’s, Deutsche Bank and BP.
“One of the most important elements is our Government institutions taking our programmes and taking the liberty of translating it into what is really required in the different emirates,” said Habiba Al Marashi, chairwoman of Emirates Environmental Group (EEG).
Ms Al Marashi said that the decision taken by all the emirates to include the Clean Up UAE campaign as part of their own environmental strategy has given the programme momentum.
“The diversity of the celebration of this campaign in the different emirates is a clear indication of how it has been nicely grounded in environmental strategies,” she said.
Ahmed Al Hammadi, a representative of the Ras Al Khaimah Public Works and Services Department, said his agency is using Clean Up UAE to promote community involvement in RAK schools.
“We try to reach a bigger number of private companies and schools and every year that the department sponsors the campaign,” he said. “Every year we get more companies and more people to work with us.
“I think this is essential to bringing them together and this is the key to the success of the campaign.”
Organisers’ goal this year is to promote a greener culture of waste management with the support of government agencies, corporations, academic institutions and families.
The week-long clean-up efforts, which include beach and desert, will begin on December 6, a date set close to National Day to allow locals to show their pride through a clean-up event, Ms Al Marashi said.
“There is no difference in gender, position or status in life, we are all together because we care and this is a chance for people to work towards the betterment of society,” she said.
Organisers hope to promote a sense of localised involvement by connecting participants through community-organised clean-ups.
Clean Up UAE started in 2002 with only four emirates involved. This year, the campaign expands into the Western Region.
nalwasmi@thenational.ae
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Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
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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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