Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce opening of Covid-19 relief centre in India on third anniversary

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are celebrating their third wedding anniversary with a new philanthropic initiative.

The couple, who marked their anniversary on Wednesday, used the occasion to reveal plans to build an emergency relief centre in India, as the country battles an ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

Through their Archewell Foundation, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will create the community centre as part of their ongoing partnership with World Central Kitchen.

Located in Mumbai, the centre is designed to initially provide aid and support, such as free meals, to locals during the country’s devastating second wave of the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, India's Health Ministry reported a record 4,529 deaths in the past 24 hours, driving the country's confirmed fatalities to 283,248.

The new community centre is designed to "provide relief and resilience (as well as healing and strength) for the communities in which they're based", the Archewell Foundation's website said.

"During future crises, these centres can be quickly activated as emergency response kitchens – or vaccination sites – and through calmer times they can serve as food distribution hubs, schools, clinics, or community gathering spaces for families."

An opening date for the centre has not yet been given.

Prince Harry and Meghan's non-profit teamed up with the World Central Kitchen in 2020 to establish four community relief centres.

The Mumbai centre is the third currently announced under the partnership, with a facility already built in Dominica and another in progress in Puerto Rico.

The WCK provides meals to those in need, typically in the wake of natural disasters, and has been delivering food to front-line workers in the US in recent months.

The NGO, founded in 2010 by celebrity chef Jose Andres, has already been working in India as the country battles its Covid-19 wave. WCK teams are present in 10 cities across the country, according to the non-profit, delivering 20,000 meals daily to frontline hospital workers and quarantine centres.

Scroll through the gallery below to see a timeline of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship:

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RESULTS

6.30pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Superior, Connor Beasley (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)

7.05pm: Handicap Dh 185,000 2,000m
Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

7.40pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Roy Orbison, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
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Handicap Dh 190,000 1,400m
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Handicap Dh 175,000 1,600m
Winner: Welford, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

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10pm: Handicap Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Untold Secret, Xavier Ziani, Sandeep Jadhav

War 2

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

Rating: 2/5

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem

Rating: 4/5

The Old Slave and the Mastiff

Patrick Chamoiseau

Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale

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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Other workplace saving schemes

The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets