UAE Friday sermon: Patience one of life’s greatest blessings



Patience may be the greatest blessing one could have, and it requires training and practice for one to sustain it through the difficulties of life, worshippers will hear on Friday.

The sermon this week offers advice on how and when to be patient in everyday life.

“This is because dealing with others requires one to be kind, calm and know how to control his reactions,” the sermon says. “Likewise, one needs to exercise tolerance when implementing the law, adhering to the rules, while waiting in a queue or showing respect for others’ rights.”

The biggest challenge is to remain patient during crises – when one’s faith and tolerance are under trial by Allah.

“Those who endure patiently will, by Allah’s favour, be rewarded in abundance,” the faithful will hear.

In fact, patience during crises is a win-win situation for true believers. As Prophet Mohammed once said: “And know that in the patience on what you hate, there is a lot of good”.

“The true patient [person] is he who is content with what Allah has decreed, never objects to it and only seeks help from Him,” continues the sermon.

Patience also offers comfort for a person in distress.

“Through patience and tolerance and by not being in haste one can overcome such difficulties,” the sermon says.

“Those who tend to lose their patience will, in turn, lose that which is good for them and fall in troubles that might bring them undesirable consequences.”

The sermon cites a poem that says: “Through patience, one will achieve at least one goal, yet by being impatient in sins one might fall.”

And a verse in the Quran quotes the prophet Jacob after he lost two of his sons, saying: “So patience is most fitting. Perhaps Allah will bring them to me all together.”

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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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