Rotman Ambassador - Info Session #2

Yesterday, I was asked to present to another group of potential Rotman students. The Rotman recruitment team changed the format a bit where the style of the presentation was more of a conversation and chat with the student rep (me).

I got the opportunity to talk about a variety of topics including the summer internship program we are currently in the thick of recruitment for, our classes as well as the middle east study tour I recently returned from.

The potential incoming group seemed to be very sharp, asking good questions about what it's like to be at Rotman, why I (and some of my peers) choose Rotman and what makes Rotman unique.

Hopefully, we have some new and interesting classmates in the incoming year next year. The recruitment staff had to kick me out of the room because I was having such a good time talking about Rotman to a group of intellegent and driven individuals that I lost track of time.

Stories of Summer Recruitment

With a bulk of interviews entering second rounds (and even some offers being signed), the 1st year Rotman MBA class, particularly those interested in finance, are a buzz with gossip, rumors and attending their phones waiting for "the call".

This was perfectly embodied yesterday as a large group of students (waiting to hear back from banks) were all laughing and chatting, sharing recruitment experiences while waiting for their phone to ring. "How did your interview go for [Insert Bank Name] [IB/S&T/ER]?"

Suddenly, off in the corner, a BlackBerry starts ringing. Everyone at the table perks their head up and eyes are searching the atrium. Chatter picks up. "Who is it? Who got the call?"

JM is seen trying to discretely walk away, but to no avail: A cheer goes up from the table.

A few moments pass. There is a little more chatter, JM returns while staring at his phone.

"So?"

JM: "It's my Rotman group. They want me to do the finance case we have due on Monday."

A roar of laughter as JM sheepishly grins.

REAL Inflation

Previously, in our first finance II cla for Q3, our Prof. David Goldriech talked about what happens when a stocks growth rate is larger than it's discount rate, as well as how an annuity calculation works.

Today he spoke about inflation and vindicated an idea I've had that's bothered me since HL Econ at UCC. It was on real versus nominal inflation. We are taught (in the International Baccalaureate and undergraduate levels) that inflation is calculated as:

Nominal = Real + Inflation Rate

However, (as the prof explained) the appropriate way to do it is:

(1 + Nominal Rate) = (1 + Real) x (1 + Inflation)

This is particularly apparent, especially after having built some financial models and looking at why the perpetuity formula works for Terminal Value (with the growth rate pegged at inflation and the discount rate) and noticing that the two scenarios are analogous.

In the Thick of It

I'm finally back in Toronto and Rotman. Just in time it seems.

It's the most intense time of the year for "typical" Rotman students: Investment Banking and Consulting postings are up. Everyday, our classmates are fighting between attending classes and making time for interviews. We (the collective first year class) have heard from the PSO, GBC and informally from a variety of different channels about our expectations and responsibilies as it relates to finding that balance between "developing academically" and "paying the bills".

The halls are alive with chatter: Grade results for Q2, interview rounds, even the negotiations paper (which I managed to avoid, but have replaced with my Middle East paper instead).

Also, the start of Q3 (and half way point of first year) is marked with the shuffle of our sections. 3/4 of every class is new, people are shuffling around trying to find their new seats and adjusting to their new classmates. We now have new academic groups and MarkStrat teams. Already, there are a host of readings and assignments due at fairly regular intervals.

Last Day In Amman, Jordan

[MEIST - Dubai -Abu Dhabi - Jordan 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Today is our last day in Jordan and we are going to be taking it pretty easy before our flight. The last few days have been fairly exhausting. We visited HSBC Jordan to get a presentation from the CEO, Karen Adams, and also had the opportunity to meet the Canadian Ambassador to Jordan, Margaret Huber, to whom we presented our arguements for and against capping compensation.

Following that visit the next morning, we visited the Citadel, which also had Greek ruins reminiscent of the ruins at Jerash.

We also visited the Arab International Islamic Bank and though our professor told the bank executives that we had been doing much travelling and asked him to grill us on questions, the bank executive, after hearing our questions about Islamic financial instruments, chuckled and jokingly replied: "Your students are grilling me on questions. They seem to know quite a bit about Islamic finance."

Our last official day, yesterday, we spent visiting Petra, a magnificent garden of magnanimous mountains and necropolis for the Nabatean people.

You could tell the Greek and Roman influences on their architecture. Several hours of walking through the passes surrounded by towering rock faces followed by stretches of open and undulating terrain.

MEIST - Presentations and Bonding

As we boarded the bus today, our professor sprung a small surprise on us. "Who here is in favour of capping CEO compensation?" A few hands went up. "Ok", he replied, "You are on one team debating for capping compensation, everyone else is on the opposing team."

I was fortunate to hear some mumbling between two friends behind me when one of them sitting in the back piped up and asked me (with a broad smile across her face): "Are you on our team? Good. You can present."

Also, later that day, we were discussing the efforts of Jordanian business to grow organically when we began to discuss the topic of manufacturing and exporting chocolate. On this cue, our professor asked a member of our team to present our Market Entry Strategy (Sugar Mountain) to the group. While my partner agreed that our team should present, she deferred the responsibility to me.

My classmates have been generous with giving me an opportunity to do presentations. They know that I truly enjoy it and that my passion for these topics reflects through my speaking.

In continuing with my recent posts, I really have been enjoying what I have been learning and the methods by which we have obtained and developed more knowledge and skills. These impromptu presentations have been challenging and even the deliberately abrupt 'surprise' course work from the prof has been enjoyable on this trip.

And more noteworthy than the usual 'mechanics of business' are the motivated and intellectually curious people who are attracted to doing the MBA program at Rotman. I am so glad that I had this opportunity to learn more about business in a foreign region with students (second years and one part timer) who I would normally never have classes with.

Q2 Grades

While I was in the Middle East the last few days, I was still anticipating my grades as are my fellow students. These grades have important implications for the job applications which are occuring as we speak. Finally, the grades have been release on R-World and there is some 'traffic' on Twitter and Facebook.

I'm happy with my marks. While I may not be the most absolutely academically proficient in the class, I am absolutely loving every minute of the MBA program and getting grades that at least show: "He really likes what he's doing". Especially Finance and Strategy.

The Dead Sea

Last night we had an opportunity to visit the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on Earth's surface on dry land. It also tastes HORRIBLE. We were warned that getting any of the water in your eye would effectively render you blind for half an hour (a hyperbole, but it felt that way for certain).

However, as promised, we were able to float with incredible ease. There was a very rocky shore and many of us worried that the water would be too shallow to carry us. However, to our amazement, we were floating effortlessly, with almost half our bodies out of the water. We were so bouyant, in fact, that many of us had trouble staying in the water, feet and arms flying every which way.

After having our fun, we climbed out of the water to take a shower. Because the water is so salty, we had to take a quick bath in mud before rinsing off and watching the sun set by the infinity pool.

Photos to come on Facebook.

MEIST - Amman, Jordan

So much has happened, and it's tough to stay on top of things, but a few key themes:

I'm incredibly impressed with Rotman's brand. Particularly, I mean our ability to meet with Ministers, heads of Central banks, embassies, CEO's and Directors of major corporations etc. This is of course, due to the efforts of our Director of International Programs, Laura Wood. I'm actually tempted to revisit the companies I wanted to visit on the Latin America tour now that I know that we have such unrestrained access.

So far in our short stay, we've meet leading professors, the Canadian Trade Commission, the Jordan Development Corporation (JEDCO), the officials of the Amman Stock Exchange and Joswe (Jordan Sweden) Phramaceuticals with unprecidented access (literally meaning: we can ask them whatever we want, no holds barred unfiltered questions). While our students have been very diplomatic and tactful, that hasn't prevented them from asking tough questions.

"What is the future direction of your country given it's current economic state?"
"Despite your lack of natural resources, how will you continue to use your human capital to build and sell IP to other countries?"
"Doesn't having a 5% cap on equity prices unnecessarily limit the freedom of your stock exchange?"

Tomorrow we will be meeting with Rubicon Animation House, the Raghda El Kurdi Arab International Women's Forum and USAID.

Mubadala

[MEIST - Dubai -Abu Dhabi 1, 2, 3, 4 - Jordan]

One company which was paritcularly impressive on this trip was Mubadala (arabic for "Exchange"). They are owned by (and intimately related to) the government of Abu Dhabi (the directors on the board are also the same ministers in government), yet operate seperately in many important respects which makes them a good proxy for what is happening the Emirate in general. While related to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) as a government owned entity, Mubadala has a different mandate to undertake long term, capital intensive projects with the intent of making competitive market level returns while diversifying Abu Dhabi's economy.

It was best explained on our trip as a "PE firm with a soul" where they have what they call a double bottom line: Financial returns and social / strategic improvement (will the project increase jobs, generate intellectual property etc). They try to balance their projects on "the curve" - a production possibility curve where the axes are financial return of the project and social and systematic improvements in the economy (shown above).

Another interesting characteristic is that Mubadalah recently (this year) released it's financial statements publically which is surprising considering it's size, the fact that it is essentially a sovereign entity. Our speakers made a point to emphasize Mubadala's focus on three guiding principles: Transparency, Accountability and Corporate Governance.



Some of their projects include Masdar city, an ambitious project attempting to build the first carbon neutral city in the world. They also have partnerships with the Ferarri Group which has a strong investment team and partners up in ownership of companies such as Piaggio Aero. We were told Mubadala has a particular investing style in bringing in partners. In order to ensure that they behave in a manner that is "best in class" (not being complacent with it's wealth - they have the funds to wholy own companies, but bring in partners anyways), they bring in parters for a variety of reasons:

• To "test" projects as if they were capital constrained and to get an affirmation that their project is financially sound by bringing in external institutions
• Gain additional expertise of partners who participate in principal co-investing on projects
• Lay off risk - balance risk and reward
• Find the sweet spot between 'optimal' versus 'maximum' leverage

Because of the nature of Abu Dhabi (in a similar nature as Dubai) a large proportion of the workers are Expats (we have constantly heard about the 80/20 split, 80% expats and 20% locals). This creates an interesting challenge. How can you create industries, business models, infrastructure and (eventually) jobs to benefit the local Emirates while attracting the international talent to help develop the human capital to support it? As a result, some of their projects have a high degree of automation since there is relatively low population numbers and the locals are actually in "minority".


These two sisters, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have been exceptional at putting up the infrastructure and buildings required as shown by the Burg Dubai / Khalifa (above). However, developing human capital takes longer with training, experience and opportunity. As a result, Mubadala has emphasized what they called the "C's": CA, CFA etc as education beyond the MBA which are required to succeed. They believe in this philosophy so much that they have a special CFA training program for their local Emirates which acts as an accelerated training program as a fast track to management positions. The locals write the CFA level I exam and those that pass advance in the program.

Amman, Jordan – First Nights

We have arrived in Amman, Jordan and with the first days planned as settling and cultural exchange days we’ve have had a fairly light schedule so far. Some of the basic necessities were to find facilities to dry clean our suits and shirts while exploring the local areas.

We even had an opportunity to visit Jerash, an ancient Roman city containing Hadrian’s Arch.

We walked around the area in awe of the magnificent ruins of the ancient city.There was a chariot arena, the temple of Artemis, and the amphitheatre amongst other sights.

Today, we begin our meetings again with businesses in the area and have even planned an excursion to the dead sea in the late afternoon.

Dubai – What happened?

Similar to the Crisis of Credit Visualized, this was a short lecture we received in our visit to Abu Dhabi where a speaker described the details of what happened in Dubai. It is a chain reaction of various events and it is interesting to see how these mechanics and relationships interplay.

Our story begins with the UAE dirham being pegged to the US dollar. With the financial crisis and volatility of the US currency, there was some speculation and rumors that the UAE was considering revaluing the dirham against the dollar.

This caused an influx of capital flowing into the country in anticipation of the revaluation (buying “cheap” dirham in the hopes that the dirham would appreciate after the revaluation).
However, with the great flow of capital into the country, the supply of money dramatically increased and investors began to ask why the money was sitting on the sidelines and wasn’t being invested.

Combine these facts with a soaring real estate market and projects were getting cheap funding, including those which didn’t undergo vigorous due diligence or had less attractive investment profiles leading to speculating on property (buying property to flip rather than to live in – artificial growth).

The catalyst of the bubble bursting came (we’re told) in the form of a UAE government official making a comment that the dirham would not be revalued. There were some concerns about the appropriateness of the comments and venue in which they were delivered, but this apparently sent a message to the market that the dirham’s value would not be dramatically changing and as a result, there was a wave of capital flight out of the UAE which spurred a liquidity crisis.

The only way to stem the liquidity crisis was to liquidate assets and as a result, people began to sell investment properties. With a rush of supply of property in the market chasing limited number of buyers, the housing market dropped in value and companies like Nakheel found themselves strapped for cash (resulting in the potential delay of sukuk payments).

Pegging to the US Dollar – Implications

The UAE’s currency, the dirham is pegged to the US dollar at 3.67. What implications does this have?

Well, first it means that the UAE has a limited role in its monetary policy (this is true for countries using currencies of other countries – remember Zimbabwe and its hyper inflation moving to a foreign currency).

Also, since the US is a major consumer of the UAE’s oil, the stability of the exchange rate allows stability in the price of oil as it is expressed in US dollars in the market. It naturally maintains a balance between exports and imports and reduces uncertainty in international trade.

Canada’s currency isn’t pegged to the US dollar and it was brought up that this can sometimes cause volatility in our exports with our largest trading partner as when our currency appreciates relative to the US dollar (as we were recently flirting with parity), our exports become more expensive and can put pressure on our trade balance.

Emirates Palace Hotel and Arrived in Amman, Jordan

[MEIST - Dubai -Abu Dhabi 1, 2, 3, 4 - Jordan]

After packing up and loading into the bus, we made our way to our only scheduled visit of the day, the Emirates Palace Hotel. Often, many of us have expressed displeasure at how marketing has over sold products and under delivered. That was what I first expected when I heard of the Emirates Palace Hotel. However, I was surprised when we arrived.

The hotel itself is a proper palace with enormous rooms (the top floor has 6 rooms for each of the Sheikh’s of the GCC countries.) There was a great deal of gold, high ceilings and lavish accommodations. One of the nicer suites we were shown would go for 100k DHS per night (about $20k USD). There is also a $1M USD package where you are picked up in a jet and given extravagent service. We were also treated to high tea with a fabulous spread of sandwiches and coffee service.

After our visit, we made our way to the airport and only recently arrive in Jordan where we will be spending the last leg of our Middle East tour.

Last Night in Abu Dhabi

[MEIST - Dubai -Abu Dhabi 1, 2, 3, 4 - Jordan]

Today's visits were fairly amazing. The first was to the Canadian Embassy where we discussed the current environment in the UAE, what makes it attractive for foreign investment (and labour) as well as what the Canadian government is doing to try to improve relations in the area to bolster trade.

Next was the Central Bank of the UAE, that is to say the key decision makers of the monetary policy regarding the UAE's monetary supply. We discussed the nature of the Dirham (DHS) and how it is currently pegged to the USD at 3.67 and how the peg provides stability to oil exports and the exports of goods. Our group asked questions relating to potential re-valuation and re-pegging of the currency as well as the trade implications of flutuations in the US dollar versus China's currency.

Finally, we made a trip to Mubadala, one of the premier government owned companies (described as a PE firm with a soul). This was certainly an interesting visit as we had four different speakers discuss the differences between how business is done here and in other regions. They were sure to highlight and reinforce that they aimed to be best in class, soliciting co-investment with partner firms and that financial returns was a priority and yet they focused on social and systematic improvements to the diversity of Abu Dhabi's industries.

MEIST - Arrived in Abu Dhabi

[MEIST - Dubai -Abu Dhabi 1, 2, 3, 4 - Jordan]

We spent our last day in Dubai visiting the Second Cup franchise in Dubai mall to speak with the owner. Following that, we visited the Ismali center in Dubai where we were treated to a tour and a visit from the Aga Khan foundation (an interesting profit driven foundation advocating social change which warrants another post). Afterwards, we made our way down to Abu Dhabi where we will be staying for a couple of days before heading over to Jordan.

Rather than try to describe all our visits and not doing them justice, I think in the future I will be focusing on the key learnings and take aways of this tour as well as some of the extraordinary events which have occured (which is difficult as this tour seems to be escalating in terms of our learnings, challenges and excitement). Even after I return home, I might have to post on retroactive topics for review.

Tomorrow we will be visiting the Canadian Embassy to the UAE, The Central Bank and Mubadala.

Skiing in Dubai - Emirates Mall

[MEIST - Dubai 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-Abu Dhabi - Jordan]

I had made a snow board trip with a buddy of mine to Glen Eden for just this reason. It would be attrocious to ski in Dubai without having done it in Canada first (Should the opportunity arrise, which it did). There were about 5 runs (including a terrain park and half pipe) and a two stage chairlift with a cafe at the midway point.

There were a few other guys who were interested in going as well. We decided to split off from the group in order to take a few quick runs down the artificial winter wonderland. We didn't have time to go back to the hotel to change (since we were quite a distance from the hotel returning from Sharjah) so we decided to go in suits.

We met some South Africans who were kind enough to take photos for us. One of the staff also commented: "In the three years I've worked here, I've never seen people ski in suits before."

Last Full Day in Dubai

[MEIST - Dubai 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-Abu Dhabi - Jordan]

Today’s visits began with AECOM’s professional services arm where we learned some of the history of Dubai’s development including a copy of a document which was the original contract for the Dubai International Airport and another primary bridge. The contract was dated in 79 and was only two pages long, one in English and one in Arabic. In the bidding processes, we talked about how projects are equally weighted on their technical as well as financial merit and what prevents engineers from achieving success in upper management.

Our next stop was SS Lootah, originally a construction company which had diversified into natural gas, Islamic banking, health care, education, hospitality and others.
SS Lootah started the first Medical and Pharmaceutical school for girls (not women… There is a cultural distinction in the meaning of the words – calling a female a woman usually implies a married woman). There was a bit of scandal as some of the gentlemen in our group shook hands which they weren’t supposed to do, but caught themselves fairly quickly. Generally, there have been very few cultural hiccups as Dubai’s culture (especially in the expat zones) so closely mirror our own.

With my experience in Malaysia, I was particularly interested to hear about what they were doing in in their Hospitality arm where they had opened Shariah compliant hotels. Shariah compliance implies:

• Halal food
• No alcohol on premises
• Visitors not allowed to meet guests in room
• Separate allocations
• 2.5% profits shared in accordance with “Zakat”
• Only use Islamic banks
• Private room to eat for families (women with full veils) that have women servers only.

Lunch at SS Lootah was a sumptuous Middle Eastern buffet spread presented to us by their hospitality arm before they took us on a tour of their subsidiaries: Dubai School of Medicine for Girls, Dubai School of Pharmacy for Girls and the Technical Institute.

After our tour of the major SS Lootah facilities, we hopped back onto the bus to visit the Chairman Salem Lootah. When we arrived, we were formally greeted by the chairman and his son the CEO who acted as a translator for us. It was certainly an absolutely captivating meeting. The Chairman is allegedly worth billions of dollars (as the tour of his facilities would suggest). Yet our discussion didn’t revolve around business but rather studies and family and his philosophy on life. It was an incredible discussion and generated a lot of chatter on our ride to Sharjah.

At Sharjah, we visited the American University in Dubai and spoke with Rotman Alumni and current professors about their vision of the school not just in and of itself, but rather the implications that it had on the future of Dubai and its role in preparing UAE Emirati for the future.

MEIST - Dubai, Day 3

[MEIST - Dubai 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-Abu Dhabi - Jordan]

Today, we started with a trip to Aramex which is a courier company based in Jordan. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my BlackBerry with me today so there are no photos, but we were able to take a tour of their facility and look at how they manage logistics and inventory for a variety of different clients including clothing companies like Mexx who have unique requirements.

Our next stop was Bayt.com, the leading career site in the Middle East. Although an online service, they understand that to be successful in the region requires a physical presence. In an unexpected development, we learned that there was a significant venture capital component arm of their business which is being developed for them to actively manage their excess cash.

Finally, the last visit of the day was EMAAR, the largest real estate company in the world by Market Cap responsible for such projects as the Burj (which opened today).

After the end of the business day, we had the opportunity to drive by the famous Burj Al Arab (sail building) as well as Atlantis and the Palm to wander around and take photos (will be posted on Facebook later).

Our evening ended with a dinner with other Rotman Alumni at the Spectrum on One restaurant in the Fairview hotel. They regaled us with tales of their histories and opinions of working in the region.

Tonight ended up being a short night as everyone has been burning the candle at both ends. In the interest of making the most of our remaining time, most of us have decided to call it in early.

MEIST After Hours - Dubai Mall

[MEIST - Dubai 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-Abu Dhabi - Jordan]

After the business of the day, we were left to our own devices. With the opening of the Burj tomorrow, the largest building in the world, now rendering our own CN Tower a dwarf, we decided to plan our remaining days in Dubai resulting in a trip to the Dubai Mall today for some shopping.

The mall was surrounded by brilliantly lighted trees and we were greeted by the Dubai Ice Rink when we arrived at the official Taxi entrance. After splitting our large group into manageable size by organizing a departure plan, we set out to explore.

It was here that we found also the famous Dubai Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world (also containing the largest single piece of glass I'm told) which housed a host of aquatic life. Needless to say, I wished I could SCUBA dive (which I'm told is possible) with some proper sharks.We even got to see Candylicious, the competitor to our suggested company in our Market Entry Strategy presentation for my group.

There was every shop imaginable from the GAP to LV. After some retail therapy for some of the participants, we decided to go for a good night out which is where the night ends for this post. We hastily crawl back into bed in the hopes of snagging a few precious winks of sleep in anticipation for an escalating day tomorrow.

Dubai, City of Merchants

Today, our group was up bright and early to make our way down to the DIFC. After a short bus ride, we arrived at our destination. Amidst the towering and ambitious yet relatively young skyline, we proceeded through the glass menagerie of art shops (one shop contained lifelike art paintings with Star Wars ships parked outside of Dubai landmarks, including the Millennium Falcon hanging from the Burg Dubai. Note: The Burj opens officially tomorrow, a HUGE event of providence for us who are 'in the neighbourhood'). Finally, we arrived at the Capital Club.

Although we wouldn't know it when we applied for this trip, most of us would be very aware of the current events in Dubai and the recent complications of Nakheel's Sukuks. This would be a recurring theme in the day’s discussion.

Our meetings began with a presentation in the Tokyo room from Mr. Hani Obeid who, as a fellow Canadian, gave us a unique perspective as head of Investment House. With a wildly successful history, the envy and aspiration of students in the room, he outlined his vision of Dubai, the effects and implications of current events and his perspective. In my role of ambassador, I once told a class of prospective students that Rotman values its international students. I think that goes double for our international relationships as we listened very intently on his pitch on the future of Dubai and why current events were being perceived from a very insightful insider's position.

Following Mr. Obeid's presentation was a series of student presentations from our peers (myself included) about the various companies we would be visiting over our trip and strategizing over what we wanted to get out of each trip.

We had a very 'generous' lunch (Shukran, Walid) at a Lebanese restaurant boasting seating in the outside courtyard (a treat even for natives as the possibilities for appropriate temperature for enjoying a sit down meal outside in Dubai are quite limited. Temperatures of 30- deg C are quite rare). Following lunch, we moved from the Tokyo room to the Dubai room which proved to be much nicer. I joked that perhaps we were afraid the previous room wasn't glamorous enough that we felt we had to upgrade.

Following lunch we had another series of presentations of the lifestyle and work style of the day to day life (and big picture) of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general. The next presentation was a very involved discussion with the CEO of Islamic Advisory Group, the body which has the new CIFE accreditation (Certified Islamic Finance Executive).

The day concluded with a talk from Anesh Jagtiani, CEO of Empowering Leaders who spoke with great animation yet asked some tough questions which really caused the entire Rotman MBA participants to reflect on their purpose and drive for doing the MBA. Once gain, I jokingly remarked: "Why didn't we take this course before we started?"

While the day still seemed relatively light (not too technical for the most part and still relatively soft to warm us up), we were definitely building up momentum as there were some absolutely brilliant questions asked in the class (slightly paraphrased):

- If an Islamic equity is issued in a recapitalization and then later liquidated, how is it valued? (As a percentage of ownership of a cash flow reflecting historical investment principal or of the liquidation of the fair / market value of the asset which backs the security?)

- If many of the instruments of Islamic finance replicate the mechanics of conventional finance, what drives the market demand for Islamic finance?

- Considering the apparent success and scalability of the CIFE program, have you considered licensing the material to providers such as Kaplan?

- What is Dubai’s relationship with its neighbouring cities? It’s big sister relationship, Abu Dhabi? Bahrain as a financial centre? Qatar as a potential younger challenger / usurper?

- In the wake of the recent issues surrounding Dubai's sukuks, what is the cash position of funds in the region? Do they need to raise more funds? Sell at a loss? Or is the market at a 50% off sale an opportunity for cash currently sitting on the sidelines? (Subtly: What is the intrinsic potential which remains in the region)

The Dune Sea

[MEIST - Dubai 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-Abu Dhabi - Jordan]

Our first day in Dubai has been excellent. Our group toured the city in the morning, taking a boat ride along one of the water ways of the city. There was a frenzied purchasing of high quality pashmina's from one of Dubai's ample pashmina shops which seemed a natural complement to the multitude of textile and fabric shops. Many of our classmates picked up gifts for friends and family as we walked through the narrow alleys of Dubai's fabric district.

We stopped at a delightful little waterside cafe, where we had some light lunch (we were told not to eat too heavily for our desert safari later that day). After a quick repas, we made our way back to the hotel in order to prepare for the events of the day.

In the mid-afternoon, all of us promptly showed up for our first official event, the desert Safari. It was on this excursion that I experienced a new type of horizon, a proper desert, with sand as far as the eye could see in every direction. I've been fortunate to have been able to experience different types of horizons: ocean, forest, mountain ranges and even endless wheat fields, but there was a great deal of anticipation and excitement upon leaving the city for the desert.

The ride was absolutely amazing. Split between three white SUV's, our group was making deliberately aggressive driving patterns along the natural embankments along the sand dunes. It was very much like driving a motor boat through rough water in a storm with the car violently pitching in every direction. Our driver, Salem, handled the car with an expert's touch, being a driving instructor for Porsche.


After a few brief pauses to look at camel farms and wild gazelles (and subtle pause-to-prevent-sickness breaks), we arrived at a rather mysterious camp, a small oasis in the desert.

The camp was like those I had only seen in Hollywood movies. Before entering, those of us with "stronger" constitutions following the tumultuous car ride were treated to a camel ride. Shortly thereafter, we discovered the sand boarding we had heard so much about earlier that day. Along the face of a particularly steep sand dune, was a series of torch lamps and at the top were four snowboards with snap on bindings (I think they were snap on bindings). As we waited for them to bring us "boots" they quickly replied: "You don't need them". Without a firm binding, none of us would be "carving" the mountain, but most of us felt brave enough to venture an attempt.

When it came to my turn, I was a little nervous. The hill seemed a bit steeper than an average ski hill and without bindings I was certain I would lose control of the board. However, the ride down was excellent. Not certain how sand would feel under foot, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it had the same texture and consistency of powder. That's right. Powder. Powder quality texture in an environment where you didn't need to wear winter clothes. And with the powder like texture, the board was also much slower, assuaging my fear of bombing down the hill at a break neck speed.

In the center of was a hearth and along the sides were traditional Middle Eastern tables and cushions. We were entertained with a belly dancing show where all the guests were invited to participate. The show was followed by a generous bbq feast. Finally, as the evening drew to a close, we returned back to our accommodations in order to prepare for the events of the following day, our first official company visits in the Dubai’s International Financial Center.

Rotman International Study Tour - Middle East Begins!

[MEIST - Dubai 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-Abu Dhabi - Jordan]

The majority of the participants have arrived in Dubai later in the evening and we are currently settling in. The schedule is pretty packed and we have some interesting company visits lined up. We'll be in Dubai until Jan 6th after which we will move on to Abu Dhabi for a few days. The last half of our trip will be spent in Amman, Jordan before making the trip back on Jan 17th.

The weather has been quite nice, although arriving at night it's hard to see to much. Most people are quite tired from their trip and getting ready for the whirlwind of activity anticipated in the short time afforded to us here.

Tomorrow we have a Day Desert Safari planned in the mid afternoon to ease us into he Middle East.

[MEIST - Dubai 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-Abu Dhabi - Jordan]