LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 13: (L-R) Filmmaker Jacques Audiard, actress Marion Cotillard and actor Matthias Schoenaerts attend the premiere of 'Rust and Bone' during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at Odeon West End on October 13, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Tim Whitby/Getty Images for BFI)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 13: (L-R) Filmmaker Jacques Audiard, actress Marion Cotillard and actor Matthias Schoenaerts attend the premiere of 'Rust and Bone' during the 56th BFI London Film Festival aShow more

Rust and Bone named best picture at London fest

Plus: Leona Lewis to attend Chequered Flag Ball, Colbert hints at Hobbit cameo, Obama offers Jay-Z parenting advice and Stephen King surprises Canadian students.

The National staff

22 October, 2012

Rust and Bone, a soaring story of love, loss and killer whales by the French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (pictured), was named best picture at the London Film Festival on Saturday. The movie is a melodrama thriller about the unlikely relationship between a boxer (Matthias Schoenaerts) and a whale trainer (Marion Cotillard). The American director Benh Zeitlin took the best debut feature prize with his atmospheric bayou saga Beasts of the Southern Wild, which won a Jury Award at the recent Abu Dhabi Film Festival. The trophy for best British newcomer went to Sally El Hosaini for My Brother the Devil, the story of British-Egyptian brothers struggling with conflicting loyalties and identities in modern-day London. Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter - real-life partners as well as creative collaborators - received career honours known as British Film Institute Fellowships. * AP

Leona Lewis to attend Chequered Flag Ball

The British singer Leona Lewis will be one of the special guests at the Chequered Flag Ball in Abu Dhabi on November 2. The ball, held at the St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, will also be attended by the American R&B singer Jocelyn Brown. Lewis will grace the red carpet and rub shoulders with other guests during the night, before enjoying the rest of the F1 weekend. "I was meant to travel to Abu Dhabi a couple of years ago but unfortunately that didn't happen so I've really been looking forward to getting this chance to come," Lewis said in a statement. For ticketing details, call 04 445 6842 or visit www.chequeredflagball.com. * The National staff

Colbert hints at Hobbit cameo

The outspoken TV presenter Stephen Colbert is reportedly set for a small role in the forthcoming Hobbit film trilogy. The host of The Colbert Report had visited director Peter Jackson's movie shoot in New Zealand. In press interviews, he suggested he had been more than a mere guest on set. Asked if he was appearing in the movie, Colbert replied: "Could be." The first of the trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will hit cinemas on December 14. * The National staff

Obama offers Jay-Z parenting advice

In an interview with a Cleveland radio station on Saturday, US President Barack Obama was asked what he and avid supporter Jay-Z talk about. Obama replied he gives the rapper parenting advice. "I made sure Jay-Z was helping Beyoncé out [with the baby] and not leaving it all with the mom and mother-in-law." Jay-Z and Beyoncé have appeared in campaign events and videos for Obama. "They're down to earth," Obama said. " Beyoncé could not be sweeter to Michelle and the girls. So they're good friends. We talk about the same things I talk about with all my friends." * The National staff

Stephen King surprises Canadian students

The horror master Stephen King made a surprise, pre-Halloween weekend visit to a Canadian high school, shocking students when he turned up. The appearance follows a year-long campaign to get the author to visit the school. King provided writing tips to students and spoke about his experience as a high schoolteacher. Matthew Beyer, a 12th-grade student, told the Kings County Record: "It was absolutely insane. It was quite a shock" when students walked into the library and King was standing there. * AP

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.”

MATCH INFO

Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')

Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)

Scoreline:

Cardiff City 0

Liverpool 2

Wijnaldum 57', Milner 81' (pen)

The Matrix Resurrections

Director: Lana Wachowski

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick 

Rating:****

TWISTERS

Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung

Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos

Rating:+2.5/5

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

UAE currency
Kill

Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal

Rating: 4.5/5

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Director:Anthony Hayes

Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes

Rating:3/5

Confirmed bouts (more to be added)

Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
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Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez

Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.

Company Profile

Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000

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