Getting lost in a fairy tale world sounds like a nice escape right now, doesn’t it? Reality has, over the past couple of months, become a surreal and scary narrative, the kind that could give you nightmares had it come from the pages of a story book.
Thankfully, JK Rowling, the creator of perhaps the most famous of fantasy worlds, has stepped in to offer us another. On Tuesday, the author made the surprise announcement she would be publishing a fairy tale online for free, her first children’s story not connected to Harry Potter.
Starting on Tuesday, May 26, The Ickabog is being released online, bit by bit, to entertain children stuck in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rowling has not just come up with the tale of The Ickabog, in fact, far from it. The story had been locked away in the author's attic, gathering dust now that her own children have outgrown bedtime stories.
But, as the pandemic has unfolded, Rowling was drawn back to the story and decided it was time to share the fairy tale with the world.
The first two chapters of The Ickabog are now available. The tale is designed to be read aloud, just as Rowling did for her own children, but older children might like to read for themselves, the author suggests.
“Once upon a time, there was a tiny country called Cornucopia, which had been ruled for centuries by a long line of fair-haired kings,” the story begins.
The story talks of a fertile land full of delicious food, so good it will make you cry at every bite, and a handsome king adored by his loyal subjects. It has all the hallmarks of a classic fairy tale. The king is even flanked by two not-so-good friends who definitely don’t have his – or the kingdom’s – best interests at heart. The king, of course, is naive to their intentions. He thinks his pals are “jolly good chaps”.
Each district of Cornucopia produces its own goods. There’s Chouxville with its cakes, Kurdsburg with its cheeses, and Baronstown with its meats. In fact, every area has its specialty. Every area but the Marshlands, only capable of growing dry grass and tasteless mushrooms.
The rest of Cornucopia thinks Marshlanders, as they are known, are a little odd. Located in the northernmost tip of the tiny kingdom, they only thing they have contributed to the country, so people say, is the legend of the terrifying Ickabog, feared by children across the land.
We don’t yet know quite what the Ickabog is, or whether it is in fact real, but we do know that the Ickabog and the legend of its existence, is about to wreak havoc on idyllic Chouxville.
Rowling is yet to say how many more chapters of The Ickabog there will be, but we know that the story will be delivered, bit by bit, until July 10.
In Cornucopia, Rowling has already mapped out a place in which children’s imaginations will run wild, excited to return to each night, and for the adults, there will be plenty of aspects of the fictional land that feel oddly familiar, leaving them to question just how much of what they are reading is a fairy tale after all.
While this is a step away from the world of wizards and Hogwarts, the magic is still there, right when we need it the most.
You can read the first two chapters of ‘The Ickabog’ online here.
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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