Will Smith attends AlUla Camel Cup in Saudi Arabia

Actor Will Smith attended the inaugural AlUla Camel Cup on Friday.

Mohammed Al Turki, a Saudi film producer and chief executive of the Red Sea International Film Festival, shared photos of himself and Smith in a private jet on the way to AlUla, for the final day of racing.

Also in attendance was Swizz Beatz, the owner of racing team Saudi Bronx. The music producer, married to singer Alicia Keys, is the first American to own a camel racing team in Saudi Arabia.

Swizz Beatz shared photos from the day at the AlUla Camel Racing Venue, describing Smith as "some surprise guest" who was in AlUla to support his team.

Saudi Bronx placed fifth in the race, which had a total prize pool of more than $21 million.

"To be a part of this with my team is amazing, not only being the first American team in the history of the sport and federation, but to be a part of history here in AlUla for the biggest cup, the biggest prize," Swizz Beatz said, following the race.

"We came in fifth place today, alhamdulillah top five, we’re going to work up to be number one inshallah," he added.

Also in attendance was Phillip Jones, the chief tourism officer for the Royal Commission for AlUla. The AlUla Camel Cup was organised by the Royal Commission for AlUla in collaboration with the Saudi Camel Racing Federation, and is part of the AlUla Moments calendar.

The visit was Smith's first to the kingdom, according to an Experience AlUla representative. While in the ancient desert city, the actor also visited Unesco World Heritage Site Hegra and and the Fame: Andy Warhol exhibition, located in mirrored arts building Maraya.

AlUla Camel Cup

The AlUla Camel Cup was held from Tuesday to Friday under the patronage of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Winners received specially designed trophies crafted from hallmarked sterling silver and plated with 24-karat gold.

The two main trophies were create by Thomas Lyte, the London silversmith behind sporting prizes the FA Cup, Six Nations trophy and the Asian Football Confederation’s Asian Cup. The trophies were decorated with a design featuring camels, rock art, the desert, AlUla landmarks and the Royal Commission for AlUla logo.

If you go

The flights

Fly direct to London from the UAE with Etihad, Emirates, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic from about Dh2,500 return including taxes.

The hotel

Rooms at the convenient and art-conscious Andaz London Liverpool Street cost from £167 (Dh800) per night including taxes.

The tour

The Shoreditch Street Art Tour costs from £15 (Dh73) per person for approximately three hours.

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.”

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg

Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday

Second leg

Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm

Game is on BeIN Sports

Recent winners

2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)

2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)

2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)

2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)

2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)

2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)

2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)

2011 Maria Farah (Canada)

2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)

2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)

2014 Lia Saad (UAE)

2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)

2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)

2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)

2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)

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