Fahd Al-Hayyan, the Saudi actor known for his comedic roles, died on Monday at the age of 52.
Tributes to the Tash ma Tash star have been flooding social media, as fans and peers mourned his death and celebrated his legacy in Saudi comedy.
“How painful that we have lost a dear companion and brother, Fahd Al-Hayyan,” wrote Abdullah Al Sadhan, who acted alongside Al-Hayyan in the hit comedy series Tash ma Tash. “We are saddened by the news of his death. May God have mercy on him and grant him into paradise.”
“Hazar is really gone,” one Twitter user wrote, referencing the character played by Al-Hayyan in Tash ma Tash. “We all now feel the same feeling, the same shock, the same sadness. It is as if part of our sweet memories died with him.”
Born in 1971, Al-Hayyan began his career with a series of minor comedic roles. However, it was his performance in Tash ma Tash that made him a household name in Saudi Arabia. He founded his own production company in 2006 and through it released the hit show Ghashamshem, which ran for six seasons — released annually during Ramadan. In 2014, Al-Hayyan announced his retirement from acting, which he said was prompted by unfair treatment within the industry.
Al-Hayyan is survived by his wife and three children.
“May God have mercy on him and forgive him,” another Twitter user wrote. “He made us laugh as children and as adults.”
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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.”
