Mark Hoppus, pictured last year, has announced he is currently cancer-free. Getty Images
Mark Hoppus, pictured last year, has announced he is currently cancer-free. Getty Images
Mark Hoppus, pictured last year, has announced he is currently cancer-free. Getty Images
Mark Hoppus, pictured last year, has announced he is currently cancer-free. Getty Images

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Music

Blink-182's Mark Hoppus announces he's cancer free

The frontman and bassist of the American rock band was battling stage-four lymphoma

Evelyn Lau
Evelyn Lau

September 30, 2021

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Blink-182 frontman Mark Hoppus says he is now cancer-free.

"Just saw my oncologist and I'm cancer free!!" the Blink-182 singer wrote on Instagram. "Thank you God and universe and friends and family and everyone who sent support and kindness and love."

Hoppus said he still has to get scans every six months and it will take "until the end of the year to get back to normal".

"Today is an amazing day and I feel so blessed," he said.

In June, Hoppus announced on a Twitter post that he was undergoing treatment for cancer: "It sucks and I'm scared, and at the same time I'm blessed with incredible doctors and family and friends to get me through this.”

Although at the time he didn’t reveal at what stage he was diagnosed or share further details of his condition, it was later announced to be stage-four lymphoma.

Over the past few months, Hoppus has updated fans by sharing photos of himself undergoing chemotherapy and tweeting about his experience, which includes his hair loss.

His latest news received positive reactions from fellow celebrities. Actor Adam Devine wrote in response, “Agghhhghh!!! YES!!! Thank God! congrats buddy! Best feeling in the world. Enjoy it!!!!”

Musician John Mayer wrote, “Just the best”, while fellow Blink-182 bandmate Travis Barker also celebrated as he shared Hoppus's post and wrote: "Love you @markhoppus. Best news brother!!!"

Hoppus is best known as a founding member of the American pop-punk band Blink-182. The band have released eight albums since forming in 1992, selling more than 50 million albums worldwide.

The group found mainstream success in the early 2000s with hits What's My Age Again? and All The Small Things.

Over the years, Hoppus has also been a part of other musical projects including founding +44 in 2005 with Barker and, more recently in 2019, forming Simple Creatures with Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low.

On Women's Day

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.”

Du Football Champions

The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.

On Women's Day
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