What are Queen Rania and the Jordanian royals wearing in end-of-year portrait?

Co-ordinated end-of-year portraits are a tradition for Jordan’s royal family, but the latest release is novel as it marks the first such image to feature King Abdullah II and Queen Rania as grandparents.

Queen Rania posted the photograph on her Instagram channel on Saturday and it has quickly gained traction online, perhaps as much for its familial sentiment as its fashion sensibility.

“May the bonds of family and love continue to grow in the year ahead,” Queen Rania writes in the caption.

Queen Rania shares joyful photo of Jordan’s royal family and message for new year

Queen Rania shares joyful photograph of Jordan’s royal family

The portrait shows the king holding Princess Amina, daughter of Princess Iman and her husband Jameel Thermiotis, while Queen Rania holds the infant Princess Iman, with her parents, Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa, walking behind. The king and queen’s younger children, Prince Hashem and Princess Salma, complete the line-up.

The family is dressed in matching shades of blues and pistachio green.

Queen Rania sports an Oscar de la Renta butterfly-belt midi dress and Jennifer Chamandi Lorenzo 105 pumps. Princess Iman wears a matching Alaia wool peplum top and maxi skirt, while Princess Salma wears an Issa London blouse with Jennifer Chamandi Lore 85 white patent pumps.

The men are dressed in crisp yet casual untucked shirts in shades of blue, and trousers in a neutral palette.

Queen Rania and the royal family’s fashion acumen regularly makes headlines. Last month, at the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the queen wore a custom red Dolce & Gabbana dress. The piece, which had been altered into a mid-length dress from a full-length gown, featured draping at the waist.

She paired the look with a Bottega Veneta clutch and Louboutin pumps, both in white.

Princess Salma wore a black Alaia dress with a gold Fendi handbag, plus gold pumps from the trusted Jennifer Chamandi.

Results

6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: RB Money To Burn, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)

7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Turf) 2,410m, Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

7.40pm: Meydan Trophy – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (T) 1,900m, Winner: Secret Protector, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

8.15pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 - Group 2 (TB) $293,000 (D) 1,900m, Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

8.50pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m, Winner: Motafaawit, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson

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.”

The Brutalist

Director: Brady Corbet

Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn

Rating: 3.5/5

TEAMS

US Team
Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth
Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger
Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler
Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed
Matt Kuchar, Kevin Chappell
Charley Hoffman*, Phil Mickelson*

International Team
Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day
Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen
Marc Leishman, Charl Schwartzel
Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim
Jhonattan Vegas, Adam Hadwin
Emiliano Grillo*, Anirban Lahiri*

* denotes captain's picks

What are Queen Rania and the Jordanian royals wearing in end-of-year portrait?

The photograph features three generations of the royal family

Results

The Brutalist

TEAMS