Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. AFP
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. AFP
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. AFP
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. AFP

Tim Walz and JD Vance agree to October vice presidential debate


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Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance on Thursday said he agreed to debate with Democratic nominee Tim Walz on October 1.

Mr Walz first agreed to the CBS News-hosted matchup on Wednesday evening.

“See you on October 1, JD,” Mr Walz, who is Kamala Harris's running mate, wrote in a post on X.

A campaign official told CBS that Mr Walz “looks forward to debating JD Vance – if he shows up”. The two vice presidential hopefuls have been trading barbs since they were named as their presidential candidates' running mates.

The date was one of four proposed by the US television network for a vice presidential debate.

Mr Vance, who is Donald Trump's running mate, upped the stakes and said he would meet Mr Walz on September 18 as well.

"The American people deserve as many debates as possible, which is why president Trump has challenged Kamala to three of them already," he said in a post on X.

"Not only do I accept the CBS debate on October 1, I accept the CNN debate on September 18th as well. I look forward to seeing you at both!"

The Harris-Walz campaign declined the request for a second vice presidential debate.

Michael Tyler, communications director for the campaign, said "the debate about debates is over".

Mr Tyler said both the Trump and Harris campaigns had agreed on three debates, which include two presidential and one vice presidential debates.

He stated that a second presidential debate was contingent on whether Mr Trump "actually shows up on September 10" and then "the American people will have another opportunity to see" Ms Harris and Mr Trump in October.

"Voters deserve to see the candidates for the highest office in the land share their competing visions for our future," Mr Tyler said.

Mr Vance, a senator from Ohio known for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy about growing up in poverty in Appalachia, has accused Mr Walz of lying about his military record.

Writing on X on Tuesday, Mr Vance also thanked Mr Walz for his service but said he “shouldn't have lied about it”.

“You shouldn’t have said you went to war when you didn’t. Nor should you have said that you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq. Happy to discuss more in a debate.”

The Minnesota National Guard, however, confirmed to The National that Mr Walz retired after 24 years of service on May 16, 2005 – about two months before his 125th Field Artillery battalion received an alert order to go to Iraq.

Mr Walz, meanwhile, has stuck to the criticism that first thrust him into the spotlight: calling Republicans “weird”.

“I just have to say it. You know it. You feel it. These guys are creepy and, yes, just weird as hell,” Mr Walz told supporters at a rally in Philadelphia.

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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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Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

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Updated: August 15, 2024, 5:06 PM