Charlie Sheen, left, and Martin Sheen. Vince Bucci / Getty Images
Charlie Sheen, left, and Martin Sheen. Vince Bucci / Getty Images

Music

Martin Sheen to join Charlie on Anger Management

Plus: Keira Knightley to focus on indie movies, playing Amy Whitehouse is a costly business, Tom Jones cancels Olympic concert, and Olympic album tops the charts.

The producers of the sitcom Anger Management are bringing aboard Martin Sheen as a cast member. He will play the father of an anger-management therapist played by his real-life son Charlie Sheen. The elder Sheen filmed a guest-starring role last month and was well-received by the producers. "I think that was the best episode we did," said Charlie. "Adding Martin to the series will give an extra dimension and make it a multi-generational family show," said the producer John Landgraf. * AP

Knightley to focus on independent cinema

Keira Knightley has announced she wants to turn her back on blockbuster movies and will instead focus on independent films, saying she wants to step away from the spotlight. "It comes to a point where you think, 'What kind of film can I make that will allow me to live a proper life?' and those big-budget movies make it difficult," said the British star, whose latest film Anna Karenina is scheduled for a September release. "I became aware of how much I was complaining about fame and you can't complain about the attention you're getting while still doing the films that invite the most attention." * IANS

Playing Amy Winehouse comes at a price

The late singer Amy Winehouse's father Mitch says he would consider letting Lady Gaga play his daughter on film if she pays him £10 million (Dh58m). Gaga previously expressed interest in portraying the late vocalist in a biopic. "If Gaga gives me £10m, I will consider it. I think it might be advisable to get an English actress, although Gaga has got the look about her. It is something which we might think about," Winehouse told the Daily Star. * IANS

Tom Jones cancels Olympic gig

Tom Jones has apologised to fans for pulling out of an Olympic celebration concert after contracting bronchitis. The 72-year-old Welsh crooner had been due to perform at an outdoor concert in Hyde Park on Saturday. Jones posted on Twitter: "Sorry to all. Thanks for all the lovely messages, I don't know if everyone's understanding and support is making me feel better or worse!" * AP

Olympics album tops download charts

Enjoyed the music-packed Olympics opening ceremony? Now you can buy the album - and thousands have. The soundtrack album, which went on sale as a download minutes after Friday's ceremony ended, has topped the iTunes album chart in the UK, France, Belgium and Spain. The ceremony was a rollicking celebration of British music and the album includes tracks from David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys, The Chemical Brothers, Dizzee Rascal, Emeli Sandé, Arctic Monkeys and Underworld. * AP

Volunteers offer workers a lifeline

Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.

When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.

Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.

Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.

“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.

Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.

“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.

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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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