Christina Aguilera has sold more than 37 million albums worldwide.
Christina Aguilera has sold more than 37 million albums worldwide.
Christina Aguilera has sold more than 37 million albums worldwide.
Christina Aguilera has sold more than 37 million albums worldwide.

UAE

Aguilera to perform at Emirates Palace

The Grammy award winning pop star is set to play a huge concert in October, marking her first Middle East performance.

Greg Aris

September 07, 2008

  • English
  • Arabic

ABU DHABI // Christina Aguilera, the Grammy award-winning singer, is scheduled to perform for the first time in the Middle East with a one-off concert at the Emirates Palace hotel in the capital next month. Aguilera, 27, best known for such songs as Dirrty, Candyman and Genie in a Bottle, will perform on the lawns of the luxury hotel on Oct 24. Ticket prices and allocations will be announced next week and will go on sale in the last week of September. Demand to see Aguilera, who has sold more than 37 million albums worldwide, is expected to be high. Up to 20,000 fans will be able to watch the singer. "You should expect a top-notch production with high-calibre performers and dancers," said a source close to the new organisation responsible for bringing concerts to Abu Dhabi. "She's a fantastic singer and has an incredible live presence; that's what Abu Dhabi needs in order to activate the entertainment industry." Born on Staten Island, New York City, Aguilera was known to her neighbours as the little girl with the big voice. She auditioned for a role in the New Mickey Mouse Club show but was rejected because she was too young. Her career began in 1998 when a cover of Whitney Houston's Run To You she recorded in her bathroom got her the chance to record the theme song for the Disney film Mulan. Her performance earned her a record deal with RCA later that same week. Aguilera's daring outfits have sometimes commanded as much attention and headlines as her music. After seeing one of Aguilera's music videos on television, the singer's grandmother reportedly called her mother to complain about how little she was wearing, adding that she understood why Aguilera came under such harsh criticism for her choice of costumes. Aguilera began dating music marketing executive Jordan Bratman in 2002. The couple married in California in 2005. They have one son, Max, who was born in January of this year. garis@thenational.ae

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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