GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN // Matt Knighton of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team has won the Inmarsat on-board reporter (OBR) award for the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race, celebrating one of the most challenging sports journalism jobs.
Knighton, 31, was cited for excellence in delivering seven hours of video, 315 photographs and 30,000 words to Volvo race headquarters in Alicante, Spain, during the course of the nine-month, round-the-world race won by Azzam, the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ador) boat.
The American received a €20,000 (Dh82,000) cash prize and a trophy by Inmarsat’s chief executive, Rupert Pearce, at a gala dinner in Gothenburg.
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The award is based on creativity, quality and storytelling. The runners-up, Amory Ross of Team Alvimedica and Sam Greenfield of Dongfeng Race Team, were presented with €8,000 cash prizes.
“The journey of each team has reached us onshore for the past nine months, and that would simply not have been possible without our reliable, global communications network and the grit, determination and hard work of the OBRs,” Pearce said.
Knut Frostad, the Volvo race chief executive, said: “The work of the OBRs is pivotal to all communications for the race. Without them, we simply couldn’t tell the story of the sailors as they take on this incredible challenge so many miles from land.
“The OBRs need to be diplomats and cheerleaders for the crews, as well as multi-talented, cross-media professionals, as they share the adventure of the Volvo Ocean Race over nine, gruelling months.”
The award was validation for Knighton’s work, who was Ador’s second choice for the OBR position.
In December, he said the OBRs work in something of a vacuum.
“The hardest part is you have no idea how the audience is receiving the content,” he told The National. “We live in a black hole where we send our stuff every 24 hours but have no idea what they are doing with it.
“Every now and again I’ll get an email saying you’re in the newspaper or this video has this many views and that will really make your day. But for the most part, you’re in this black hole, which is rare in this day and age, especially in media.”
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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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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
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Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
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• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
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