Miss Lebanon returns to the nation's screens

The Miss Lebanon pageant has returned to TVs around the country for the first time in three years.

Veteran Miss Lebanon Maya Reaidy’s reign finally came to an end on Sunday evening with the crowning of the 2022 Miss Lebanon, Yasmina Zaytoun.

It was the first Miss Lebanon pageant to take place since 2018.

Lebanon has been thrown from crisis to crisis, with an economic collapse that began in October 2019 followed closely and compounded by the global Covid-19 pandemic.

And in 2020, a massive explosion in Beirut’s port killed more than 200 people and destroyed a large part of the city.

The prolonged economic crisis has brought a breakdown in basic services such as electricity and water, and chronic shortages of wheat and medicine.

Journalism student Yasmina Zaytoun, 20, from Kfarchouba, won the modified title of "We Miss Lebanon", a nod to Lebanon’s prolonged adversity.

Seventeen women from around Lebanon competed for a grand prize of $100,000 and the chance to compete in pageant competitions Miss World and Miss Universe.

Notable among them was Congolese-Lebanese Dalal Hoballah, who came in fourth place and whose run as a contestant made waves on social media.

When asked by one of the judges what cause she would champion, she answered, “There is beauty in diversity.”

Ms Hoballah was the only racially diverse contestant.

The We Miss Lebanon event was held in collaboration with Lebanon’s Ministry of Tourism.

The ministry has in recent months encouraged tourism to the country – specifically from the sprawling Lebanese diaspora – to try to restart the economy.

The event was coloured by a touch of nostalgia and longing for a return to normality for the struggling nation.

Third-placed Jacinta Rashed told judges Lebanon’s economic hardships had caused her to migrate to Italy.

“But I’ll return to my village. That’s a promise,” Ms Rashed told judges.

Those watching on TV probably related to fourth-placed Lara Hraoui’s story:

“We couldn't get the medicine for my dad, nor could we get our money out of the bank to get his medical care,” she said. “Despite everything, my dad lived.”

Ms Hraoui was referring to the chronic medicine shortages plaguing Lebanon, and the capital controls imposed by Lebanese commercial banks, which have stopped depositors withdrawing the full value of their savings since 2019.

“My father is like Lebanon. Although death came for him, he returned to life.”

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The biog

Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus

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Monday fixtures

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Mrs%20Chatterjee%20Vs%20Norway

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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.”

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: HyperSpace

Started: 2020

Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Entertainment

Number of staff: 210

Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners

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3rd ODI, January 14

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