Miss Universe contestants showcase glamorous looks in first round of competition

Contestants from 86 countries turned up in their glamorous best as the first round of the Miss Universe contest began on Wednesday in New Orleans.

The preliminary competition, featuring an evening gown round and a swimsuit round, will determine who will make it to the semi-finals, the qualifying contestants for which will be announced early on the final coronation night on Saturday.

The 71st Miss Universe will crown the 2022 winner as the event was postponed last year. Another competition, to pick the 2023 winner, is expected to be held later this year.

Scroll through the gallery above for more pictures from the evening gown competition

Khalifa, 24, made waves in the swimsuit round wearing a burkini and a customised cape with the message: "Arab Women should be represented. Muslim women can also become Miss Universe".

For the evening gown round, she wore a glittery silver dress, complete with a head covering, by Filipino designer Furne One, whose Amato label is headquartered in Dubai.

Zaytoun, 20, was crowned Miss Lebanon 2022 in a ceremony in Beirut in July, held for the first time since 2018.

On Wednesday, she wore a glamorous custom gown by Lebanese designer Charbel Zoe featuring glittery frills.

Zaytoun, who is from Kfarchouba, a village in southern Lebanon, is a journalism student and besides modelling, hosts the With Yasmina Show on Instagram, which she describes as an educational show and on which she interviews notable Lebanese media and sports personalities.

In November, the Miss Israel Organisation said it will not send a delegate for the first time in seven decades. Israel hosted the last Miss Universe competition in 2021, in the southern resort city of Eilat, where Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu took home the crown.

Miss Universe is one of the longest-running and most-watched beauty competitions in the world; it is broadcast in 165 countries and seen by more than half a billion people annually.

Sandhu hosted the preliminary competition on Wednesday along with newscaster Randi Rousseau.

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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.”

Miss Universe contestants showcase glamorous looks in first round of competition

The preliminary rounds will determine who makes it to the semi-finals

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