Rihanna's joy at 'first real show' in eight years for Ambani pre-wedding

Rihanna gave a rare performance of some of her biggest hits at the pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant on Friday.

Matching the dress code of “elegant cocktail", she wore a fluorescent green bodycon and glittery custom-made gown by The Attico.

The singer, who went on a musical hiatus in 2016 to focus on other projects as well as raising her two children with rapper A$AP Rocky, recaptured the magic of old in Jamnagar.

“I’m here tonight in honour of Anant and Radhika, thank you for having me here. God bless your union, I wish you all the best, congratulations,” she said as she took the stage.

She added: “How many of you believe in love?” before performing her 2011 hit track We Found Love.

Other hits she performed include Diamonds, Work and Wild Thoughts showcasing the success of her career that has produced eight albums and helped her win nine Grammys.

After leaving the stage, she told reporters: “I'll be back, I love India. The show was the best. I haven’t done a real show in eight years."

Rihanna poses for a picture after performing at the pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant at the airport in Jamnagar. Reliance Industries / Reuters

Anant is the youngest son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. He is hosting a lavish three-day celebration in the Gujarati city, on the west coast of India, which began on Friday.

The 1,200-strong guest list is a who's-who of Bollywood, business leaders, Indian cricketers, politicians and business tycoons.

UAE businessman and Emaar Properties founder Mohamed Alabaar with his wife; Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone; Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan; Shah Rukh Khan and his family; and Ivanka Trump were some of the guests seen arriving at the airport in Jamnagar city.

All were flown on chartered flights into Jamnagar. However, the main wedding event will be held in July in Mumbai.

According to a nine-page event guide and wardrobe planner sent to guests and seen by The National, the celebrations will include several themed parties, which began with a cocktail party called An Evening in Everland on Friday.

The Ambanis are not known to cut corners for their weddings. Anant's sister Isha Ambani's star-studded 7 billion rupee nuptials ($86 million) in 2018 is still the most expensive Indian wedding of all time and included a performance by Beyonce.

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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.”

Rihanna's joy at 'first real show' in eight years for Ambani pre-wedding

Pop star wore a fluorescent green bodycon and glittery custom-made gown by Manish Malhotra

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