Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway unveiled a $6.7 billion stake in insurer Chubb, ending months of suspense over its position in a financial firm, previously kept concealed in regulatory filings.
Berkshire disclosed the holding in a filing on May 15, reflecting its positions at the end of the first quarter.
The conglomerate has been building the stake since last year but it hadn’t previously been reported because the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed Berkshire to keep it confidential.
Separate quarterly filings reflected that Berkshire’s equity stakes in banks, insurance and finance companies were growing, while the company was pulling back in other industries, including consumer products.
Mr Buffett’s Berkshire is deeply familiar with the insurance industry, owning a range of companies including Geico and National Indemnity.
The billionaire investor has called Berkshire’s property-casualty insurance operation the “core” of the conglomerate, helping generate “float” that can then be reinvested.
The conglomerate has also invested in other businesses in the insurance industry. Berkshire owns a stake in Aon, a major broker, and has previously backed rivals including Marsh & McLennan.
Chubb is one of the biggest property-casualty insurers in the US and operates in 54 countries.
The company insured Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed when a cargo ship crashed into it in late March. It’s reportedly set to pay out $350 million to the state of Maryland.
Mr Buffett already revealed a few recent changes to his company’s holdings at Berkshire’s annual meeting in Omaha earlier this month.
It trimmed a stake in Apple to $135.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, as the iPhone maker faces a range of struggles including an antitrust fine, sliding sales in China and a failed car project.
The billionaire investor praised the tech company at the meeting and said it will remain Berkshire’s largest investment barring any dramatic changes.
The cash pile at Berkshire reached a record $189 billion at the end of March.
Mr Buffett said at the annual meeting that it was “a fair assumption” that it will hit $200 billion by the end of this quarter.
Frank McCourt
Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Frank McCourt said that he’s putting together a consortium to purchase TikTok’s US business, adding to several investors hoping to benefit from a new federal law that requires TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the popular platform or face a ban.
Mr McCourt is organising the bid in consultation with the investment bank Guggenheim Securities and “with the goal of placing people and data empowerment at the centre of the platform’s design and purpose”, according to an announcement on the website of his Project Liberty initiative.
If a sale occurs, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers said he would plan to restructure TikTok and give more agency to people “over their digital identities and data” by migrating the platform to an open-source protocol that allows for more transparency.
Mr McCourt said he doesn’t use TikTok, but his businesses and Internet-focused initiative do.
The bid is an extension of his long-running interest in remaking the Internet with better data privacy protections, an effort he’s focused on through Project Liberty.
So far, his vision to remake TikTok has received the backing of Jonathan Haidt, a well-known social psychologist.
“We thought this was a really fantastic opportunity to accelerate the creation of an alternative Internet,” Mr McCourt said.
Other investors, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have expressed a desire to purchase TikTok.
However, parent company ByteDance has already said it does not plan to sell the platform.
Some experts have also noted the Chinese government is also unlikely to approve a sale – especially not one that includes the recommendation engine that powers the videos that populate users’ feeds.
Mr McCourt said he's not interested in TikTok's current algorithm because “top-down” recommendation engines conflict with his view of how such platforms should be managed.
He also thinks ByteDance will sell TikTok’s US business at some point.
For now, though, the company has been fighting back against the law passed last month, which would disrupt one of its most lucrative markets.
ByteDance and TikTok recently filed a lawsuit against the US government to block the law from going into effect.
The company also has been waging a legal battle in Montana to block a state law that would ban the video-sharing platform.
Mr McCourt is worth $1.4 billion, according to Forbes. He sold the Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012 to Guggenheim Baseball Management. In 2016, he bought the French football club Marseille.
Daniel Kretinsky
The owner of Britain’s Royal Mail is inclined to accept a £3.5 billion ($4.4 billion) non-binding bid from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky as it struggles to modernise the beleaguered postal service.
Parent company International Distributions Services said the board has indicated to Mr Kretinsky’s EP Group that it would probably recommend an offer at the 370 pence per share value proposed.
That’s after strongly rejecting its previous offer and promising higher profits from the planned liberalisation of postal regulations.
EP Group previously made a non-binding proposal of 320 pence per share that was rejected by the board, which said it undervalued the business, partly because it didn’t consider any issues from changes to British rules over letter delivery.
After the first offer was rejected, EP said private investment was crucial for Royal Mail, which has struggled to cope with changing delivery trends.
Mr Kretinsky has been building his stake in the company over the past few years and now owns more than 27 per cent of the business.
Mr Kretinsky’s latest offer is 360 pence in cash, a 2 pence per share final dividend and an 8 pence a share special dividend to be paid when the deal completes.
Royal Mail is grappling with a decline in letter writing and a rise in parcel deliveries due to e-commerce.
Members of the Communication Workers Union voted to accept a new pay deal last year after months of strikes, during which it accused management of prioritising parcels over letters.
The company has also pushed for the government to relax rules that force it to deliver letters on Saturdays, which it has said is unsustainable. This was rejected by the government last year.
In recent years, Mr Kretinsky – known as “the Czech Sphinx” for his inscrutable approach to investing – has been diversifying away from the energy industry and has quickly built up a portfolio of assets across Europe.
In Britain, he has stakes in grocer J Sainsbury and Premier League football club West Ham United.
In France, Mr Kretinsky’s consortium has taken control of grocer Casino Guichard Perrachon, alongside media investments.
A bid for the former state-owned business could face opposition from some UK politicians who have previously voiced concerns about the stake that Mr Kretinsky already owns.
EP Group has agreed to offer undertakings to “protect key public interest factors and recognise Royal Mail’s status as a key part of national infrastructure”, IDS said. These include continuing to send first-class letters six days a week.
The deadline to make the bid official has been extended to May 29.
Jim Ratcliffe
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, who recently bought a minority stake in Premier League team Manchester United, has seen his wealth decline as the chemicals conglomerate behind his fortune stumbles.
Mr Ratcliffe’s net worth has sunk 11 per cent this year to about $17 billion, dragged down by one of the largest units of his Ineos conglomerate, which recently reported its lowest annual earnings since 2020 and highest net debt for at least a decade.
He’s now the world’s 118th-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, 19 spots lower than at the start of the year. The 71-year-old is also the UK’s second-richest person.
Mr Ratcliffe’s wealth is dropping as he makes his boldest attempts yet to diversify the closely held business he’s run for more than two decades.
Earlier this year, he spent at least $1.5 billion to acquire about a 28 per cent stake in Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Ineos Group Holdings, the London-based conglomerate’s largest chemical unit, grappled last year with weakening demand for its products and rising borrowing costs from its largely floating-rate debt.
The company last month reported a first-quarter loss of about €190 million ($205 million) amid a 361 per cent jump in financing costs from a year earlier.
Another major chemicals unit, Ineos Quattro Holdings, swung to its first loss in five years, filings for last year show.
Mr Ratcliffe pushed into sports acquisitions as he was also expanding Ineos, partly to help bolster awareness of the London-based company, which doesn’t report consolidated financials.
He purchased Swiss football team Lausanne for an undisclosed sum in 2017, the same year Ineos acquired UK clothing brand Belstaff and announced plans to build an off-road vehicle to rival Tata Motors’ Land Rover.
Ineos has since struck deals to partner with five-time Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie to build a British sailing team for the America’s Cup, while also acquiring French Ligue 1 football club OGC Nice and former Tour de France winner Team Sky.
The Manchester United deal took more than a year to complete and gave Mr Ratcliffe control of football operations even though he acquired only a minority stake.
He’s since sought to rein in costs, including cancelling corporate credit cards for senior executives, according to the Times of London.
Mr Ratcliffe’s wealth drop is unlikely to affect Manchester United. Still, any prolonged slump in his fortunes would constrain his efforts to invest further after already committing to allocate an extra $100 million by year-end to support the club’s complexes.
Mr Ratcliffe, who grew up in Manchester but now lives in Monaco, founded Ineos in 1998.
He gained a reputation for spotting undervalued assets while turning the company into a global chemicals firm that now includes shipping and energy businesses.
Mr Ratcliffe still oversees the group along with John Reece, 67, and Andy Currie, 68. They’re each worth about $6 billion from their roughly 19 per cent stakes, with Mr Ratcliffe owning the balance, according to Bloomberg’s index, which calculates the company’s value based on a five-year average of Ineos Group Holdings’ financials to account for the chemical industry’s volatile business cycles.
Compiled from Bloomberg and AP
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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.”
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
ACC 2019: The winners in full
Best Actress Maha Alemi, Sofia
Best Actor Mohamed Dhrif, Weldi
Best Screenplay Meryem Benm’Barek, Sofia
Best Documentary Of Fathers and Sons by Talal Derki
Best Film Yomeddine by Abu Bakr Shawky
Best Director Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
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Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
Fixtures
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Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
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