UAE giving year's salary to the grieving families of Al Ain crash dead

ABU DHABI // Grieving families of those killed in the UAE's deadliest road accident will receive a year's salary from the government, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Butti, has promised.

He said the UAE will give salaries of 12 months to each one of the families of the dead workers to "mitigate the loss of their providers while judicial authorities will determine the financial compensation which is legally due to the dead."

"MoFA followed up the sad traffic accident which took place on 4th of February in Al Ain City and involved workers from Arab and Asian countries leaving 21 dead and 24 others injured."

In a statement on state news wire WAM, he expressed heartfelt sympathy with the families of the dead and prayed to Allah Almighty to bestow mercy on them and patience on their families.

News of the additional financial compensation offered by the UAE government was welcomed by families of those who lost their sons and brothers in the February 4 road accident in Al Ain.

"The UAE government has given us hope," said Mohammed Idris Mian, who lost two sons in the accident. "They have given us hope in our hearts to live."

Mohammed Jahangir Alam, who lost his brother Mohammed Bohran Uddin, and works as a clerk in a bank earning just 5400 Taka (Dh 251) a month, and would have struggled to feed himself and his parents, said: "I am relieved to hear this news. My parents want to thank everyone who thought of us in our hard times."

Sultana Aktar, the wife of Mohammed Ala Uddin, reacted to the news saying she will be able to continue living a life of dignity.

"The family is in my hands now. I will be able to look after them in the way my husband did."

Ala Uddin leaves behind two sons, Tamim Iqbal, 6 and Tasmin Iqbal, nine months. Tasmin was born while Ala Uddin was away.

Jainal Abedin, Ala Uddin's brother said that Tamim will be able to continue his education.

"The family will be able to eat and live without worry. A burden from our shoulder has lifted," Mr Abedin said.

Nur Ahmed, the ailing grandfather of Mohammed Arif Uddin, 22, who left behind his mother said, "What can we offer in return for this generosity, we offer our prayers of thanks."

sbhattacharya@thenational.ae

Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Sour%20Grapes

%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EZakaria%20Tamer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESyracuse%20University%20Press%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E176%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

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.”

The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

If you go

The flights

Fly direct to London from the UAE with Etihad, Emirates, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic from about Dh2,500 return including taxes.

The hotel

Rooms at the convenient and art-conscious Andaz London Liverpool Street cost from £167 (Dh800) per night including taxes.

The tour

The Shoreditch Street Art Tour costs from £15 (Dh73) per person for approximately three hours.

UAE giving year's salary to the grieving families of Al Ain crash dead

The UAE government promises a year's salary to families of the Al Ain crash victims to 'mitigate their loss'.

Sour%20Grapes

The specs

THE LIGHT

If you go