The Prince Harry and Meghan Markle interview may well be the most talked-about TV special of the year, but Oprah Winfrey isn't slowing down. The talk show host has also sat down with Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas as part of her Super Soul series.
The interview will premiere on Discovery + on March 20.
Chopra Jonas is notably a friend of the Duchess of Sussex, and attended her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, along with Winfrey.
A teaser for the chat has dropped online, which shows Winfrey sat in a similar set-up to her interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, with Chopra sat across from her in a garden setting. In the clip, the host asks the actress, "Do you and Nick [Jonas] hope to have a family one day?”
To which she replies, "I am a very live-in-the-today, maximum live-in-the-next-two-months kind of person. But in 10 years, I definitely want to have kids. That is, it’s going to happen in the next 10 years."
She adds: "Well, hopefully earlier than that. I’m very fond of children and I want to be able to do that."
Andra Day, Chip and Joanna Gaines, Sharon Stone, Jon Meacham and Julianna Margulies also appear in the teaser clip, which Winfrey speaks over, saying: "I just love being able to have thought-provoking, heart-expanding talks with people who inspire us all, to think about the deeper meaning of life.
"That's why I am thrilled to announce Super Soul, has a brand new home on Discovery+, [with] an exciting new season of interviews."
Super Soul Sunday started in 2011 as a self-help talk show hosted by Winfrey. It originally aired on her Oprah Winfrey Network, but has moved to Discovery+ for its 18th season.
It has since spawned a podcast, which launched in 2017, called Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations. A number of the podcasts use interviews recorded for the TV show, however others include original podcast content.
Interviewees have included Michelle Obama, Mindy Kaling, Tina Turner, Jordan Peele, Trevor Noah, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Yara Shahidi, Melinda Gates, Michael B Jordan and Beto O'Rourke.
A UAE premiere date for the Chopra Jonas interview has not yet been confirmed.
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.”
