SHARJAH // Owners of wild animals have welcomed a decision to set up specialised farms in Sharjah where they can house their pets in the emirate legally.
This week it was announced that owners of exotic wild animals could keep them at special preserves, available for rent through the Environment and Natural Reserves Authority.
The creation of the farms follows an emirate-wide ruling banning ownership of dangerous animals.
“Many owners of wild and dangerous animals in Sharjah stepped forward after the amnesty for offenders was announced,” said Hana Al Suwaidi, chairwoman of the Sharjah Environment Authority. “They affirmed their obedience to the law and expressed interest in rectifying the situation.
“It was commendable of them to respect the law they way they did,” she added. “They also expressed interest in keeping those animals.”
A few years ago a cheetah caused a scare in Sharjah when it was seen roaming the streets. It was eventually caught.
The farms will be behind Al Sajaa in an uninhabited area away from any industrial or commercial activities. They will be monitored by the Environment and Natural Reserves Authority and will be operated under strict conditions.
Mohammed Al Kumaiti, 37, bought a lion cub for Dh50,000 a few years ago from a farm in Dubai. An online video of his lion scaring others went viral.
Mr Al Kumaiti strongly supports the decision to outlaw wild animal ownership.
“I was one of the first people to own a lion as a pet before it become trendy to do so,” he said. “I liked him dearly but I know for a fact that these animals do not belong at a house or a domestic farm. As much as I loved him, there were three incidents when he almost took away my life if it wasn’t for the intervention of others.
“ Those are wild animals. You can’t change that fact,” Mr Al Kumaiti said.
He has since gone on safari in South Africa and was moved when he saw how lions behaved in their natural habitat.
“I felt foolish taking them out of their environment where they thrived. That is where they should have stayed.”
Bonnie Swesey, an animal rights activist who helped ban the pony rides in front of Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi, said: “Bringing in exotic animals is illegal and the law should be strongly enforced. Bringing in these animals is a danger to people as well as to the animals themselves. It’s much more rewarding to appreciate the animal in their natural habitat.”
The authority has not set a date for the completion of the farms, but said it would start allocating space for owners with a large number of predatory animals.
Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed, Ruler of Sharjah, also issued a decree on the establishment of the Masnad Nature Reserve, which will also be run by the Environment and Protected Areas Authority.
The UAE is now a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates the trading of more than 30,000 species. Animals and plants that fall under the convention can be imported or exported only with the relevant documentation.
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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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