The organisation that sends Vietnam's representative to Miss Universe has severed ties with the annual competition, citing the "business orientations" of the global pageant's new owner.
On Sunday, Vietnam's Unicorp joined entities from Ghana, Belize, Mauritius, Seychelles and Indonesia in cutting ties with the Miss Universe Organisation over the introduction of a new business model that required them to bid for the rights to host pageants in their countries.
Unicorp said it will continue to host the annual Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam beauty pageant but would "suspend co-operation with Miss Universe".
The decision was made "after a period of careful consideration and realising that the new business orientations of Miss Universe were no longer consistent with the strategy and long-term development goals of Hoa hau Hoan vu Viet Nam," it said.
Controversy began after Miss Universe's new owner, Thai millionaire Anne Jakrajutatip, introduced a new rule that required organisations and their national directors wishing to host competitions to select Miss Universe representatives to submit a bid annually.
Pageant fans said the new rules would mean that organisations that have had a long relationship with the Miss Universe Organisation were no longer assured of the right to host the event. There were also concerns that the move would start a bidding war, with the rights to host the contest going to the deepest pockets, and not necessarily to entities who have the contestants' best interests in mind.
"In the application, you will be asked for your highest bid for the opportunity to hold the Miss Universe licence. Please be advised that proposed licence fees deemed not aligned with the market value in your region will be rejected," read a Miss Universe memo sent to national directors and shared online.
Who has cut ties with Miss Universe?
On February 10, Malz Promotions, which has been sending a representative from Ghana for the past five years, said it was withdrawing from the Miss Universe pageant.
"The new and sudden implementation of the Miss Universe business model under the JKN Global Group's leadership are not aligned with Malz Promotions' brand objective and would hence like to discontinue the relationship with Miss Universe," its chief executive Menaye Donkor Muntari said in a letter posted on Instagram.
That same day, Nevin Rupear, the national director for Miss Universe Mauritius and Miss Universe Seychelles, wrote to the Miss Universe Organisation, saying he was relinquishing his role.
In the letter shared by pageant site Sash Factor, Rupear said "bidding is not for me".
"I am worth so much more than someone else bidding more to overtake all the hard work my team and I have put in since 2016. This cannot be quantified," he said.
They were followed by Miss Universe Belize national director Romeo Escobar, who said he was withdrawing from the competition because the bidding system "does not align with the way I conduct business and believe it is not a sustainable way to keep a partnership long term with its directors."
Some organisations, such as Yayasan Puteri Indonesia, which has been sending representatives for 30 years, claimed they were being sidelined despite years of relationship with Miss Universe's previous owners.
YPI posted a statement on Instagram saying it was "shocked" to learn that another company had been granted the licence and that it was "disappointed" by the lack of transparency in the bidding process.
On Saturday, Jakrajutatip announced Indonesian company PT Capella Swastika Karya as the new owner of Miss Universe Indonesia as well as Miss Universe Malaysia, at a glitzy event in Kuala Lumpur.
How has Miss Universe responded?
Jakrajutatip, whose JKN Global Group bought the rights to Miss Universe last year for a reported $20 million, has sought to clear the "drama" with an Instagram post, saying "something got lost in translation and information".
"The request of submission was meant to give voice and agency to the current directors — a way that they can speak truth to what they believe their business is worth," she said.
"How can someone criticise something without getting the right info or interviewing anyone in the organisation? Since when [did] the Miss Universe Organisation say that the submission was all about the highest amount of money? It’s making no sense to me and it’s not my business integrity to do so."
What does this mean for the coming Miss Universe pageant?
It's still unclear what the impact of the latest backlash will be, or whether it would affect the number of participants at the coming pageant. Since the rights to host national competitions are owned by private entities, it is also possible that another organisation can take over the rights and still send their country's representative to Miss Universe.
El Salvador is set to host the next 2023 event, although a date has not been set. The announcement was made by the country's President Nayib Bukele during the 71st Miss Universe in New Orleans, where Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel took the crown, becoming the first Filipina-American to win the competition.
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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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