From left, Thorsten Kaye, Bradley Bell, Katherine Kelly Lang and Don Diamont of The Bold and the Beautiful are in the UAE to shoot episodes of the soap opera in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Satish Kumar / The National / March 16, 2014
From left, Thorsten Kaye, Bradley Bell, Katherine Kelly Lang and Don Diamont of The Bold and the Beautiful are in the UAE to shoot episodes of the soap opera in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Satish Kumar / TheShow more

The Bold and the Beautiful to film at Atlantis, Emirates Palace, Burj Khalifa and Abu Dhabi Corniche



With such buzz surrounding the arrival of the cast of The Bold and The Beautiful to shoot in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, did the show's executive producer and chief scriptwriter Bradley Bell have any idea just how popular it is here, where it's a long-standing mainstay of Dubai One's daily schedule?

“We’d heard it’s very popular and that was part of the reason for coming,” he says. “From the moment we’ve landed it’s been amazing. The beautiful architecture, how clean and safe it is and what a fabulous, modern exciting city this is.”

The story of how the soap’s leading lady, Katherine Kelly Lang, requested time off her shooting schedule to partake in the Abu Dhabi triathlon and Bell deciding to make it a group trip and shoot here too, is well-known now, but it sounds like a huge logistical challenge.

“It was a very short timescale,” admits Bell. “But that tends to be the way when you’re writing 255 episodes a year. She talked about it, I went online, and my mind was immediately racing with all the potential drama that could be created with such an amazing backdrop.”

Locations for the three-day shoot include Atlantis, Emirates Palace, Burj Khalifa and the Abu Dhabi Corniche. Bell adds that the crew will be shooting from a helicopter too, “to make sure we can show our audience all the hot spots and showcase the cities”. Surprisingly, however, he has brought a minimal crew with him: “We have the actors, a director and someone to look after costumes. A producer came out two weeks ago to meet the local production partners and he’s assured me we’re in good hands, so everything else is down to the twofour54 team.”

Jamal Al Awadhi, from twofour54 intaj, is on hand to fill in the gaps. “We have 20 to 30 staff supporting the production, including three Emiratis on set as part of our commitment to train local talent,” says Al Awadhi. “When a production comes in, they need someone that can take care of everything from their arrival to when they leave. From permits to transport and logistics to hospitality and, of course, cameras, kit and crew. We need to make it the best experience possible – that’s what brings people back.”

• The eight episodes, partially filmed this week in the UAE, will be broadcast in the US from May 23 to June 6, while Middle East audiences will see them on Dubai One in 2015

cnewbould@thenational.ae

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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Brave CF 27 fight card

Welterweight:
Abdoul Abdouraguimov (champion, FRA) v Jarrah Al Selawe (JOR)

Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (TUN) v Alex Martinez (CAN)

Welterweight:
Mzwandile Hlongwa (RSA) v Khamzat Chimaev (SWE)

Middleweight:
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Rustam Chsiev (RUS)
Mohammad Fakhreddine (LEB) v Christofer Silva (BRA)

Super lightweight:
Alex Nacfur (BRA) v Dwight Brooks (USA)

Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) v Tariq Ismail (CAN)
Chris Corton (PHI) v Zia Mashwani (PAK)

Featherweight:
Sulaiman (KUW) v Abdullatip (RUS)

Super lightweight:
Flavio Serafin (BRA) v Mohammad Al Katib (JOR)

TOURNAMENT INFO

Opening fixtures:
Friday, Oct 5

8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers

Saturday, Oct 6
4pm: Nangarhar Leopards v Kandahar Knights
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends

Tickets
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.q-tickets.com/apl/eventlist and at the ticket office at the stadium.

TV info
The tournament will be broadcast live in the UAE on OSN Sports.