ABU DHABI // A campaign in the Philippines to teach migrants how to better manage their money has reached more than 1,000 Filipinos and their families in the UAE since 2011.
"We aim to cover more Filipinos in this country," said Grace Princesa, the Philippines ambassador to the UAE, who initiated the financial literacy programme before passing it to the Government to administer.
The Ministry of Labour has been supportive of financial education for migrants. It ran a "training of trainers" event in Dubai in January 2011 for migrants from the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Atikha, a non-government organisation that provides economic and social services to overseas workers and their families in the Philippines, developed a training module applicable to all nationalities.
Of the more than 600,000 Filipinos who live and work in the UAE, 1,016 have attended 30 financial literacy workshops, seminars and "training of trainers" events.
"The programme will help ease their reintegration in the Philippines and become growth drivers of our country," Ms Princesa said.
Topics include the basic concepts of saving, investing and borrowing, and various means of investing.
"We continue to hold the seminars and workshops every third Friday of the month in Abu Dhabi, while there are separate sessions organised in Dubai," Ms Princesa said.
One of the trainers, Bal Junio, 44, a finance and administration manager in Abu Dhabi, said there was a growing awareness among Filipinos of the need to manage their hard-earned money.
He was a participant in the training of trainers event in 2011 and has since trained compatriots on the basic concepts of saving, investing, borrowing and investments.
"Many now recognise the ideal approach, which is to save before you spend, recognise your needs versus your wants, write your budget and stick to your financial plan," he said.
"They would like to learn more about stocks, mutual funds and managing a business so we're now developing a three-level programme."
The first level will include a seven-hour seminar on saving, budgeting, borrowing, getting out of debt, and the "dreams and despairs of overseas Filipino workers".
In August, participants can attend a five or six-hour discussion on the various investment instruments, which will be the second level. The third level, a five-hour seminar and workshop on starting and managing a business, will be offered in November.
The UAE was chosen as the pilot country of Atikha's Pinoy Wise Movement due to the large number of Filipinos and the support of the Government. It was officially launched in November.
"The UAE has been very supportive of this initiative which is in line with the Aquino government's reintegration programme," Ms Princesa said. "Jobs generated can offer a choice for female migrant workers, especially the household service workers. Migration then becomes a choice rather than a necessity."
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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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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Started: August 2020
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
