Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh light up Jeddah with '83' ahead of Dubai trip

Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh were the star attraction on the final night of the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah on Wednesday. In town for the world premiere of their upcoming cricket film 83, Padukone and Singh, who got married in 2018, waved to fans on the red carpet and spoke before the screening of the film.

Padukone was dressed in a coral mermaid gown by Dubai's Michael Cinco featuring striking layers of tulle from the Filipino designer's spring-summer 2019 collection. Singh wore a chest-bearing brown Gucci suit, matched with a hat and neck scarf.

"Deepika's coral mermaid gown is made of layers of shirred tulle from my spring/summer 2019 collection," Cinco told The National. "She asked for a bright and striking colour to wear at the Red Sea International Film Festival."

The actors were accompanied by the film's director Kabir Khan, his wife and actress Mini Mathur, as well as former Indian cricketers Kapil Dev, whom Singh plays in the film, and Mohinder Amarnath. Padukone, who is also one of the producers, plays Dev's wife Romi Bhatia, who also attended the screening.

83 recreates India's historic Cricket World Cup win in 1983 in England, and also features a number of acclaimed actors including Pankaj Tripathi, Boman Irani, Saqib Saleem and Tahir Raj Bhasin. The release of the much-anticipated film has been postponed at least three times as coronavirus-imposed restrictions shuttered theatres across India, first in April 2020 and then again in June this year.

Producers are anticipating a blockbuster response thanks to its star billing as well as India's obsession with cricket. The first official trailer of 83 was released last month, and has already been viewed more than 69 million times on YouTube.

Following their Jeddah appearance, the 83 team will next head to Dubai where they will watch a special promotional video screened on the facade of Burj Khalifa on Thursday night.

83 is scheduled to be released on December 24.

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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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