Hugh Jackman attends the X-Men: Days of Future Past premiere after skin-cancer surgery. Mike Coppola / Getty Images / AFP
Hugh Jackman attends the X-Men: Days of Future Past premiere after skin-cancer surgery. Mike Coppola / Getty Images / AFP
Hugh Jackman attends the X-Men: Days of Future Past premiere after skin-cancer surgery. Mike Coppola / Getty Images / AFP
Hugh Jackman attends the X-Men: Days of Future Past premiere after skin-cancer surgery. Mike Coppola / Getty Images / AFP

Hugh Jackman has another cancerous growth removed

Also, Sakshi Chaudhary to play Priyanka Chopra in film; Robin Williams's The Crazy Ones axed; Austrian wins Eurovision.

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Hugh Jackman has had another cancerous growth removed. The 45-year-old actor attended the premiere of his latest film, X-Men: Days of Future Past on Saturday with a bandage over his nose. Jackman said he had a basal-cell carcinoma removed two nights earlier; he got the results of a recent biopsy earlier on Thursday and had it removed right after. Basal-cell carcinoma is a slow-growing form of skin cancer. Jackman was treated for the same disease last year but said that the prognosis was good: "It's all out now." He urges others to "get check-ups and wear sunscreen". – AP

CBS axes Robin Williams comedy The Crazy Ones

CBS has renewed The Mentalist, but has axed the Robin Williams comedy The Crazy Ones as well as Hostages, Intelligence, Friends with Better Lives and Bad Teacher, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Williams's role in The Crazy Ones was "touted as a return to his roots" after a successful movie career, but it pulled in less-than-stellar ratings. The comedy, which also starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, averaged a 2.8 rating in the key demographic and 10.5 million viewers. – The National staff

Sakshi Chaudhary to play Priyanka Chopra in film

The new actor Sakshi Chaudhary has been chosen to play Priyanka Chopra in a film, based on the National Award-winning actress's fallout with her former manager Prakash Jaju. Chaudhary has also been signed on by the producer Firoz Nadiadwala for a three-film deal, but before that she'll be seen on screen with John Abraham in the next instalment of the Hera Pheri franchise. – IANS

Austrian wins Eurovision

Conchita Wurst won the Eurovision Song Contest early on Sunday with the song Rise Like a Phoenix. The 25-year-old performer, whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, took the Eurovision crown in Copenhagen with 290 points compared with 238 points for runner-up the Netherlands, in what Eurovision fans had anticipated would be a more closely fought race. It was Austria's first Eurovision victory for 48 years. – AFP

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.”

COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)

Date started: August 2021

Founder: Nour Sabri

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace

Size: Two employees

Funding stage: Seed investment

Initial investment: $200,000

Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East) 

While you're here
More from this package
if you go

The flights

Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes

The package

Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January

The info

Visit www.gokorea.co.uk

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
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Touring range: 591km
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On sale: Deliveries start in October

Donating your hair

    •    Your hair should be least 30 cms long, as some of the hair is lost during manufacturing of the wigs.
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