Fresh from mentoring the winning constant on the latest edition of the American version of TV talent show The Voice, pop star Christina Aguilera now has her sights set on completing her long-awaited new album – her last, Lotus, was released in 2012.
Speaking at the recent Mawazine Festival in Morocco, the 35-year-old reflected on her experience on the TV show and the joy of helping aspiring artists.
Congratulations on your contestant, Alisan Porter, being crowned winner of The Voice. Are you still on a high?
What a great feeling. Knowing Alisan, of all people to take it home, she deserved it. She is such a hard worker and to be away from her own children and being a mom at the same time – it was just a priceless moment to see the kids say “momma won”. It was so heart-warming and made it all worthwhile. It was also a nice victory against the boys.
About that, is it hard to believe you are the first female mentor with a winning contestant in 10 seasons?
Yes – finally a girl has taken it. Before this season there were only three female contestants that won it. Now there are four, with Alisan, and now one female coach has taken it home. With three male judges, the odds were always a bit against us – but not next season. We will finally have two females judges (Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus have signed on) and two males (Adam Levine and Blake Shelton).
One disappointment about the finale of the show was that your duet with a hologram of Whitney Houston was scrapped. What happened?
I was disappointed, too. Unfortunately, that's a legal matter between NBC [the network that broadcasts The Voice] and the hologram company. I think the special effects being done to her didn't quite turn out the way it was promised to by the deadline of the performance. But that's not to say that it wont happen eventually. Technology just has to catch up with Whitney's greatness and talent.
Speaking of the late Whitney, she was a big fan of your work.
She was just magical. I met her numerous times and sometimes you can be disappointed by people who you always admired and looked up to. She was always so gracious and encouraging to me. One time, I was shaking when I had to pay tribute to her and sing I Want to Run To You with Whitney there in person. Singing for your idol is no easy task and she just couldn't have been more complimentary – so sweet and supportive.
With The Voice completed, is it safe to assume that you are now working on your new album?
I am working on it – I promise. There is a lot of fun stuff in store. It will definitely hold a lot of truth for me and where I am at now – how I have grown and how I even learned a lot of things on the show. [TV] is not an environment where I can always say what I really want, so the album is very exciting for me.
What kind of direction are you taking with the new songs you are working on?
I will get to speak a lot about my truths and be honest with my fans. It will be completely inspirational. I make music for my fighters and I speak from places of pain and overcoming struggles. Hopefully, it inspires others to find their own voice.
You also mentor aspiring singers outside of The Voice through your 23-part singing course (available for Dh330 on www.masterclass.com).
I love to be in a position to help other aspiring singers. With the masterclasses I teach them on my own time, where it is unedited and unfiltered. I am giving advice on singing and everything, from breath control and hitting notes to also just figuring out who you are as an artist. I do that because sometimes it is not so black and white. There is no right or wrong way to singing. Everyone is different and I think that’s what I try to do in my coaching – to really find out what their signature style is. Sometimes it is the little imperfections and cracks around the edges that contain honesty and emotion. That’s what I am most interested in, in an artist.
You are only 35 but you sound like a complete industry veteran.
I definitely do feel like that. I have paid my dues and grew up in the business – I have been working pretty much since I was 7. I feel like I have put in hard and great work – but I am nowhere near done. I am very excited about the next chapter.
sasaeed@thenational.ae
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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.”
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
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Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Mane 51', Salah 53'
Chelsea 0
Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Aston martin DBX specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Top speed: 291kph
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: Q2, 2020
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.
The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.
All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.
No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.
Profile of Foodics
Founders: Ahmad AlZaini and Mosab AlOthmani
Based: Riyadh
Sector: Software
Employees: 150
Amount raised: $8m through seed and Series A - Series B raise ongoing
Funders: Raed Advanced Investment Co, Al-Riyadh Al Walid Investment Co, 500 Falcons, SWM Investment, AlShoaibah SPV, Faith Capital, Technology Investments Co, Savour Holding, Future Resources, Derayah Custody Co.
