One Direction
Made in the AM
Syco
Four stars
Adele is shattering records previously thought unbreakable. Justin Bieber is back with his most mature (and critically acclaimed) record to date.
Somewhat lost in the pop shuffle is the much-anticipated fifth – and perhaps final – album from the most popular act of the last half-decade. But One Direction are not going out quietly.
The once-fivesome, now-foursome (absent is Zayn Malik, who quit this year) from the United Kingdom released Made in the AM during the same week that Bieber's Purpose arrived and shortly before Adele's 25.
The boy band had said this would be their last record before going on hiatus for the next year – prompting many to wonder whether it might be their last ever. Conventional wisdom would have predicted another eye-popping sales performance.
Made in the AM did indeed debut at No. 1 on the UK charts, but on the American chart, it was the first of their records to not hit that high, finishing behind Bieber at No. 2.
Nothing to sneeze at, but not exactly the best sign for the band's already uncertain future. Needless to say, though, the remaining members of 1D will be just fine, with the inevitable solo careers and acting gigs on the horizon.
As for ...AM, it is right up there among the group's best. If this is to be the 1D's swan song, it's a fitting farewell, and they leave behind a very solid pop legacy.
Any of the 13 tracks here (or 17, or 19, depending on which deluxe edition your kid made you buy) could cut it as singles, but the group has used Drag Me Down, Infinity and the now-ubiquitous Perfect to saturate the radio waves so far.
The best of the three singles is Perfect, an apt title for a song from a group so talented at creating pitch-perfect earworms. The tune is shiny and pretty, and a fine showcase for singer Harry Styles, the most likely of the four remaining members to reach broader pop fame.
Infinity is a run-of-the-mill power ballad that's pleasant enough. Less successful – maybe even downright forgettable – is Drag Me Down, a bland pass at a thumper that debuted in July and is the weakest track on the album.
Best of the rest is the fun, breezy love song Olivia, which is dripping with Paul McCartney influence.
If nothing else, no one can accuse 1D of resting on their laurels. How many bands release five albums in five years these days?
All told, it’s another solid addition to a very successful and prolific catalogue. Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson aren’t going anywhere, even if their collective moniker might be.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Happy Tenant
Started: January 2019
Co-founders: Joe Moufarrej and Umar Rana
Based: Dubai
Sector: Technology, real-estate
Initial investment: Dh2.5 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 4,000
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
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.”
