ABU DHABI // The former boy band singer Ronan Keating will perform to a star-studded audience at the Emirates Palace on Monday night, it was announced today.
Keating, who rose to fame with the Irish band Boyzone, has sold 20 million records since going solo in 2000. He said he was a big sports fan.
The guest list for the Laureus World Sports Awards is a "who’s who" of professional sports stars of past and present.
On the red carpet will be Sir Bobby Charlton, the captain of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team, and Rafael Nadal, the current world tennis number one. Nadal will be hoping to be named World Sportsman of the Year for a second time.
Up for awards will be the Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, the Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, the LA Lakers' Kobe Bryant and the Barcelona footballers Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
Attending the ceremony will be the German footballer Franz Beckenbauer, the skateboarder Tony Hawk, the 10-times world surf champion Kelly Slater and the two-time F1 champion Mika Hakkinen.
The ceremony will be hosted by the double Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey.
“I know what a big night it will be for them, and I also totally empathise with the charity side of Laureus," said Keating. "I’ve tried to do what I can in my life to give something back to society and to help people and I know this is the real driving force behind Laureus through its Sport for Good Foundation. I am delighted to do what I can to help.”
Proceeds from the awards benefit the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports almost 80 community sports projects around the world.
eharnan@thenational.ae
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Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12’) Liverpool 1 (Minamino 73’)
Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties
Man of the Match: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)
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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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