No charges for Britney Spears in dispute with housekeeper

Britney Spears will face no charges after an allegation from her housekeeper that the singer slapped a phone out of the employee's hand, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

A possible misdemeanour battery charge was declined based on insufficient evidence that a crime had occurred and lack of injury to the housekeeper or of significant damage to the phone, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said.

The woman called authorities after the August 16 dispute with Spears over veterinary care of Spears's dog, Nasarenko said.

Spears, 39, has a home in Thousand Oaks, California, north-west of Los Angeles.

When it was revealed sheriff's deputies were investigating, Spears's lawyer, Mathew Rosen, called the incident “overblown” and “manufactured,” saying: “Anyone can make an accusation but this should have been closed immediately."

The district attorney's announcement came a day after Rosen and Spears filed new documents alleging that her father was keeping his role in the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money for 13 years because he was trying to earn some $2 million more in fees.

James Spears's representatives did not respond to a request for comment, but have repeatedly said that his dealings in the conservatorship have always been upright and in the best interests of his daughter.

Jamie Spears, left, claims he has always acted in the best interests of his daughter, right. AP

He was, however, the target of much of his daughter’s ire in a pair of speeches before a court in June and July, in which she called the conservatorship “abusive".

Spears said she had been required to use an intrauterine device for birth control, take medication against her will and was prevented from getting married, having another child or even riding in her boyfriend’s car unsupervised.

“This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good,” Spears said at the time. “I deserve to have a life.”

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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No charges for Britney Spears in dispute with housekeeper

The singer will face no charges after an allegation from her housekeeper that Spears slapped a phone out of her hand

On Women's Day