Chris Hemsworth is no stranger to Dubai, having previously starred in an advertisement for Emirates and Expo 2020 Dubai. Photo: Emirates
Chris Hemsworth is no stranger to Dubai, having previously starred in an advertisement for Emirates and Expo 2020 Dubai. Photo: Emirates
Chris Hemsworth is no stranger to Dubai, having previously starred in an advertisement for Emirates and Expo 2020 Dubai. Photo: Emirates
Chris Hemsworth is no stranger to Dubai, having previously starred in an advertisement for Emirates and Expo 2020 Dubai. Photo: Emirates

Travel

Chris Hemsworth takes his family on 'a trip into the future' in Dubai

The Hollywood star toured the Museum of the Future with his wife and children

Hayley Skirka
Hayley Skirka

August 16, 2023

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Chris Hemsworth has been busy visiting Dubai, where he headed to the city's Museum of the Future.

The Hollywood star and his family toured the landmark attraction, wandering through its colourful DNA Library and taking a futuristic lift ride into the year 2071.

In a series of videos shared as a post on Instagram, the actor showed his 57.6 million followers around one of Dubai's most visited attractions.

“A fun family trip into the future” he captioned the post, which amassed over 200,000 likes within six hours of being posted.

The A-lister, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Friday, is no stranger to the UAE.

He previously starred in a campaign for Emirates and Dubai Expo 2020 where he invited people to come see what was billed as the world's greatest show. “We all have the power to shape a better future, and the last year and a half has shown us that the possibilities are endless when we put our minds together," said Hemsworth in the advert.

Last year, he was in Dubai for the PopCon Middle East event – the biggest pop culture and gaming convention in the region. The Thor actor got into character for the event at Dubai Expo City, donning his Marvel garb and having meet and greets with fans.

In 2019, Hemsworth explored Dubai as part of a property advertisement for Bayut. In the advert, the Hollywood star went riding through the desert on horseback, listened to traditional music in a desert camp and whizzed through the streets in a Ferrari.

Last year, the star of hit action franchise Extraction announced that he would be taking more time off from acting to spend with his family after discovering he is predisposed to Alzheimer's.

The Australian is married to Spanish model and actress Elsa Pataky and the couple have three children; daughter, India Rose, born in 2012 and twin boys, Tristan and Sasha, born in 2014. They live in the coastal Australian town of Byron Bay, having moved there from Los Angeles.

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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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Transmission Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Power 661hp @8,000rpm
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Fuel economy, combined 11.4L / 100k

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Updated: August 16, 2023, 10:22 AM
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