ABU DHABI // Youngsters - and the young at heart - took part in a host of fun games and activities at Abu Dhabi's SummerFest yesterday.
Held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, the event features about 20 games and puzzles designed to be educational as well as fun, along with a selection of more traditional fairground rides.
The biggest draw, in more ways than one, was a huge three-storey high obstacle course spanning 1,150 square metres that includes rope swings and a climbing wall for the most fearless of the kids.
For the less adventurous, there are plenty of less challenging activities on offer at this year's event.
"It's really amazing," said 11-year-old Emily, from the UK. "We've done some trampolining so far, and now we're playing at the Dexter's Laboratory game.
"We've been coming here since last year and we always learn so much."
Emily's friend Jessica, 11, said she really enjoyed the educational games.
"They teach us a lot about science in a fun way," she said. "Like, you hold on to this machine that has an electrical circuit and it'll only light up if you hold on to another human being, so it shows you how an electrical current works."
Even the girls' nanny got in on the act. "It's a lot of fun, even for adults, because you get to participate and learn a lot with the kids," said 32-year-old Wahida.
Karashma Kamal, from India, has been coming to the festival every year with her three children since its launch in 2008.
"It's great, my kids love it and it's a cheaper option and a reasonable exhibition for kids," she said. "They learn about arts and games, and the shows are wonderful so we will definitely continue coming here until the end."
The educational games included a reaction test to gauge children's responses to light and sound, while an Arts Village and a Lego Zone also proved popular.
"Anyone who comes here can paint," said Glenn Mercado, who works at the Arts Village. "We have two areas, one for children from ages three to five and one for six to 10 year olds. They team up and paint. Most of their parents take the paintings home to frame them, especially for the young ones because it's such an achievement."
Regular visitors say the event gets better each year. "We attended the first one in 2008 and it's much more developed now," said Dorine Weinberg, a mother-of-two from Germany.
"There was nothing back then, just a little maze and a section where children could learn how to drive with little cars but not much.
"It really looks great this year and it has loads of games for different ages."
During Ramadan, options to keep children occupied can be limited, said Ms Weinberg. "It's a good diversion for the kids, especially during Ramadan.
The festival runs until August 17. During Ramadan it is open from 8.30pm to 1.30am during the week and 7.30pm to 2.30am at the weekend. After Ramadan, it will be open from 3pm to 9pm on weekdays and 3pm to 11pm at weekends.
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
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Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
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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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