'Extraordinary women': Balqees Fathi joins ensemble of famous faces for Piaget campaign

Emirati-Yemeni singer Balqees Fathi has been announced as one of the new faces of luxury jewellery brand Piaget.

In a series of glossy images for the brand's Extraordinary Women campaign, the singer appears alongside other noteworthy women such as American actress Jessica Chastain, entrepreneur and influencer Olivia Palermo, British actress Cynthia Erivo and Korean actress Kong Hyo-jin.

Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu is another famous face selected by the brand, as is Chinese visual artist Chen Man, who also shot the images. With her trademark polished style Man, has put Chinese fashion photography on the map, and in turning her lens on this group of women, she is introducing them to a truly global audience.

Piaget's Extraordinary Women campaign with Balqees Fathi. Courtesy Chen Man/Piaget

The campaign was envisioned as a way to highlight the brand's glittering, diamond-encrusted Limelight Gala timepieces, and Sunlight and Possession jewellery collections, although Piaget has chosen to expand this into something much wider-reaching.

By choosing a global array of women famous in their fields, the jewellery house is celebrating these "independent, creative, strong, passionate" figures, proclaiming that women can be "whoever they want to be".

Of course, Fathi is already a household name in the Middle East. The daughter of famed musician Ahmed Fathi, Fathi has earned recognition for her own talent and drive.

In 2016 she was named the regional voice of the UN's initiative Planet 50-50, aiming to bring about gender equality, perhaps fitting given she was named after the Yemeni Queen Balqees, famous for her wise and peaceful rule.

As an artist, Fathi's first song was Masaa'la Sahla, and her first live performance was in 2013, when she joined the UAE National Symphony Orchestra, singing in both French and Italian. In 2016, she performed at du Arena in Abu Dhabi alongside Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli ,accompanied by the NSO Symphony Orchestra.

Olivia Palermo in Piaget's Extraordinary Women campaign. Courtesy Chen Man/Piaget

Since then she has amassed a devoted following (more than 10 million on social media, and counting), and this latest involvement with Piaget will see her introduced to an even wider audience.

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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.”

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Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.

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Red flags

Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

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Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

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She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.

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