An untitled image by Ross Bleckner. (Courtesy Leila Heller Gallery)
An untitled image by Ross Bleckner. (Courtesy Leila Heller Gallery)
An untitled image by Ross Bleckner. (Courtesy Leila Heller Gallery)
An untitled image by Ross Bleckner. (Courtesy Leila Heller Gallery)

5 things to do today: See the exhibition Forever Overhead and attend The Fridge Concert Series

Our daily round up of things to do. See the exhibition Forever Overhead, attend The Fridge Concert Series, attend a weekly pottery class, sign up for New Moon Yoga, contribute old family photographs and personal stories to the Lest We Forget initiative.

Ellen Fortini

May 02, 2016

  • English
  • Arabic

See the exhibition Forever Overhead. The American artist Ross Bleckner presents 10 large-scale paintings and smaller canvases that are meditations on light: at once natural and artificial, an effect of and the very substance of the work. Open from 10am to 7pm, Leila Heller Gallery, I-87, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai, 056 831 3520, www.leilahellergallery.com

Attend the The Fridge Concert Series. The popular music programme returns with shows from a variety of genres featuring top locally-based artists and musicians and kicks off tonight with Imbue, a four-piece fusion band who blend Bossa Nova and jazz with Arabian rhythms. Doors open at 7.30pm, Dh50 at the door; free for students 18 and under, The Fridge, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai, www.thefridgedubai.com

Create your own clay masterpieces in weekly pottery classes led by Olja, a ceramics specialist, who will share the basics of throwing, centring, turning and shaping, using tools and applying glazes. Mondays, 10am to noon, from Dh670 for four sessions; from Dh85 for clay, ages 16+, Yadawei Ceramic Studio and Gallery, Al Quoz, Dubai, 04 379 1312, info@yadawei.net

Sign up for New Moon Yoga and take part in two yoga classes and one meditation session with Naya Yoga and Pilates in the outdoors under a new moon. Friday, 4pm to 7pm, Dh50 donation is requested and will be given to Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, Dubai Internet City Amphitheatre, Dubai, register at 050 553 7765, www.yogafest.me/moon

Contribute old family photographs and personal stories to the Lest We Forget initiative, which aims to archive and share images, documents and artefacts of life in the UAE to provide future generations with a history of the development of the country as told by the community itself. Today and tomorrow, Hall 12, Stand A-13, Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, Adnec, Abu Dhabi, www.lestweforget.ae

listings@thenational.ae

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PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

What is Folia?

Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.

Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."

Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.

In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love". 

There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.

While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."

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MATCH INFO

Europa League final

Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports

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The biog

Birthday: February 22, 1956

Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh

Arrived in UAE: 1978

Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.

Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”

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.”

While you're here
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair