If you’re planning a proposal, booking your driving test or simply planning a drastic new hair do then today may well be a good day for it.
Twosday — Tuesday, February 22, 2022 — is being dubbed one of the luckiest days in a millennium by numerologists who claim that spiritual energy will be off the charts.
Numerology is the pseudoscientific belief in a divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events, and practitioners are saying the date holds incredible significance.
The date is known as a palindrome — a sequence that reads the same forwards and backwards — of which there are only 60 days in this entire millennium.
That makes it the perfect day for making a change in your life, according to numerologist Josh Siegel.
“The date itself is a significant representation of the numbers 2, 20 and 22,” he says. “These numbers all relate to intuition and awakenings.
“The number two represents duality, the decisions we make and how we see others. It is an indication that we may have fallen out of balance.”
For numerologist and soul coach Ann Perry, it is a date for laying down the law and deciding what we really want from life.
“The totality of February 22, 2022 comes up as a three vibration that is encouraging us all to express ourselves,” she says. “Tell people you are no longer going to be their doormat. Tell them you are building a life full of plans for a better future.
"Are we taking on responsibilities to be loved, or are we jumping in because we love doing it?
“Are we acting out of a place of service or servitude? We will be exploring ways to release the need for perfectionism while trying to establish balance in our lives.”
Tying the knot
Across the world, couples are changing their wedding plans to start married life on Twosday.
In Singapore, more than 500 couples are planning to tie the knot today, which is nearly nine times the usual number.
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, news site casino.org reported that officiants and venues are booked solid with it set to become the busiest for weddings in recent Nevada history.
In Sacramento, California, 222 couples are encouraged to bring their marriage licences and come dressed to impress for “Sacramento's biggest, once-in-a-lifetime collective wedding event” at the State Capitol.
The ceremony will start at 2pm and conclude at 2.22pm, followed by a celebration.
In Siegel’s opinion, it is an excellent day to get married, though he warns that every marriage requires hard work regardless of the anniversary date.
“The day for marriage would symbolise a deeper union and co-operation, a more balanced and equitable relationship,” he says. “It is a promise to work together as a team and sense each other's needs.
“This is a general time frame for more awakened types to do their part to find points of agreement with those of a different opinion.
“Although the influence is there, it is up to each of us to use this cycle in the highest way we can.”
Welcoming new additions
Mums-to-be may want to take a brisk walk or eat a spicy curry if the hype is to be believed.
According to Siegel, babies born on Twosday will be a harmonious addition to the family.
“Those who are born on this day may have heightened intuition and would be natural peacemakers,” he says. “They are coming into a world that needs them to help us find harmony, to show us we are far more similar than what we may believe.”
Teacher Angela Minervini is expecting her first baby on 22/02/22 and though she expects the arrival to be the end of her peace and quiet, she says she’ll take all the luck she can get.
“I’m not usually one for superstitions or lucky numbers but in this case, I’m prepared to get on board,” she says with a laugh.
“I’m hoping that I’ll be in and out of the hospital within a few hours wearing a pair of size eight jeans, but that would be more of a miracle than good luck I imagine.”
Minervini, who is from England but lives in Panama, Central America, is expecting a son with her partner Carlos.
“I think we’re already incredibly lucky to be having a healthy baby,” she says. “Anything else is just a bonus.
“As for a peaceful presence, I’ll take that over dramatics any day.”
The countdown
A website dedicated to Twosday has been set up at 22-2-22.com, featuring a live countdown and an online shop selling Twosday T-shirts for €22 ($25) with shipping available to the UAE.
The homepage reads: "After a couple of years of pain and frustration from the pandemic, the world is in hunger of joy, happiness and self-care.
"For the very, very few getting married — let's celebrate them. For the 0.27 per cent of the world's population having their birthday on 22/02 — let's celebrate them.
“And for the rest of us — for the more than 99 per cent of us — let's make it a day of cosiness. A day of taking care of ourselves. A day of making sure that we don't forget ourselves in the daily circus of life."
One thing we perhaps shouldn't forget is a lottery ticket.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
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Barings Bank
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founded in 1762 and operated for 233 years before it went bust after a trading
scandal.
Barings Bank collapsed in February 1995 following colossal
losses caused by rogue trader Nick Lesson.
Leeson gambled more than $1 billion in speculative trades,
wiping out the venerable merchant bank’s cash reserves.
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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